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FOSEiSM 

49372 


UC-NRLF 


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B    2    bUl    ^20 


THE 


it,.-: 


North-Engush  Homily  Collection 

A   STUDY  OF 

THE  MANUSCRIPT  RELATIONS 

AND  OF 

THE    SOURCES   OF   THE   TALES 


A  Dissertation  Presented  to  the  Board  of  Studies  for  English 

Language  and  Literature  of  The  University  of  Pxford 

IN  June  1901 

For  The  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Letters 


GORDON    HALL,  GEROULD. 


1902 


THE 


North-English  Homily  Collection 


A   STUDY  OF 

THE  MANUSCRIPT  RELATIONS 

AND  OF 

THE    SOURCES    OF   THE   TALES 


A  Dissertation  Presented  to  the  Board  of  Studies  for  English 

Language  and  Literature  of  The  University  of  Oxford 

IN  June  1901 

For  The  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Letters 


BY 

GORDON    HALL   GEROULD. 


1902 


PRESS  OF 
THE  NEW   ERA  PRINTING  COMP.\ 
LANCASTER,    PA. 


EXAMINERS. 

Professor  Arthur  S.  Napier. 
Professor  Joseph  Wright. 
W.   H.   Stevenson,  M.A. 


NOTE. 

In  printing  this  dissertation  I  wish  to  express  my  obligations  to  all 
those  who  have  given  me  help  in  its  preparation  :  for  the  courteous 
kindness,  among  others,  of  the  officers  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  of  the 
Library  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  of  the  Department  of  Manu- 
scripts in  the  British  Museum,  and  of  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  in 
Paris ;  to  the  Librarian  of  Lambeth  Palace  who  allowed  a  manuscript 
to  be  sent  me  at  Oxford ;  and  to  Rev.  J.  Fenwick,  of  Cheltenham,  the 
owner  of  the  Phillipps  Collection.  Above  all  I  am  indebted  to  the 
kindness  and  ever-ready  help  of  my  honored  teacher  and  friend.  Pro- 
fessor Arthur  S.  Napier,  at  whose  suggestion  the  work  was  undertaken. 

I  hope  in  the  not  too  remote  future  to  publish  a  critical  edition  of 
the  North-English  Homily  Collection  with  a  study  of  its  language,  for 
which  I  have  already  gathered  a  good  deal  of  material. 


PART   I. 


MANUSCRIPT   RELATIONS. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY    OF    NORTH-ENGLISH    LEGENDARY. 


Horstmann,  Altenglische  Legenden,  Neue  Folge,  1881 

'<■  Herrig's  Archiv,  LXXXII,  p.  167. 

Matzner,  Sprachproben,  I,  p.  278. 
Morris  and  Skeat,  Specimens  of  E.  E.  Lit.,  II,  p.  ^-i}- 
Small  (J).,  English  Metrical  Homilies,  1862. 

MSS. 


r   Edinburgh,  Royal  Coll.  of  Phys 

Ashmole  42. 

Camb.  Univ.  G  g  V.  31. 

Original 

''      D  d  I.  I. 

Collection 

Lambeth  260. 
Harleian  2391. 
Phillipps  8122. 

-        8254. 

Expanded 

Vernon. 

Collection  ( 

0 

Addit.  22283. 

Expanded 

Harl.  4196. 

Collection  ( 

0 

Cott.  Tib.  E,  VII. 

Fragments 

Bodleian,  Eng.  Poet.  C  4. 

In  possession  of  Lord  Robartes. 

Of  the  expanded  collections  I  shall  say  nothing,  confining  my  atten- 
tion to  the  original  form.  The  tables  of  contents  of  these  collections 
have  been  printed  by  Horstmann,  Altengl.  Legend.,  p.  Ixxi  and  p. 
Ixxviii.  The  Vernon  collection  differs  chiefly  in  adding  homilies 
for  a  great  number  of  feast  days,  the  Harleian  by  inserting  also  homilies 
for  an  extraordinary  number  of  week  days.  The  textual  differences 
are  well  illustrated  by  the  homily  for  the  2d  Sunday  in  Advent  which 
in  MS.  Harl.  4196  has  only  29  lines  out  of  288  that  approach  the 
normal  type  of  the  original  collection. 

5 


5  G.    H.    GEROULD 

ORIGINAL  COLLECTION. 

The  MSS.  of  this  family  have  been  fully  and  accurately  described 
by  Horstmann  {Altenglische  Lege?iden,  Neue  Folge,  p.  Ix.  ff.)  in  so 
far  as  he  knew  them.  A  summary  description  of  these  will  there- 
fore suffice.  Dr.  Horstmann  had  not  seen  the  Phillipps  MSS. ,  how- 
ever, and  he  considerably  antedated  MS.  Ash.  42,  which  he  placed^ 
in  the  second  quarter  of  the  14th  century.  According  to  Mr.  Fal- 
coner Madan,  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  this  MS.  is  rather  of  the  early 
15  th  century,  an  estimate  which  is  corroborated  by  the  fact  that  it 
contains  homilies  for  certain  feast  days.  This  is  certainly  a  mark  of 
its  comparatively  late  date,  since  the  original  form  of  the  collection, 
as  implied  by  the  title  Evangelia  Dominicalia,  contained  homilies 
only  for  the  Sundays  of  the  church  year.^  Later  on  week-day  feasts 
were  gradually  included  in  the  collection.  As  will  be  shown  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  Edin.  MS.  stands  nearer  the  original  than  any 
other  which  we  have  preserved ;  but  unhappily  it  exists  only  in  a 
fragmentary  form.     Yet  even  this  MS.  is  far  from  being  a  perfect  type. 

The  MSS.  of  the  collection  are  the  following  : — 
MS.  Edinburgh,  Royal  College  of  Physicians :   thin  quarto ;  northern 

dialect;  vellum;  early  14th  century  >  printed  by  J.  Small,  Eng- 
lish Metrical  Homilies,  Edin.  1862. 
MS.  Ashmole  42  :   large  octavo;  northern  dialect;  vellum;  early  15th 

centu  ry. 
MS.  Camb.  G  g  V.  31,  Univ.  Libr.  Camb.:  quarto;  northern  dialect; 

vellum  ;  date  probably  nearly  same  as  that  of  preceding. 
MS.  Camb.  D  d  I.  i,  Univ.  Libr.  Camb.:  long  narrow  form;  southern 

dialect;  paper  and  vellum ;  toward  middle  of  15th  century. 
MS.    Lambeth    260:   small   folio;   northern   dialect;    paper;   toward 

middle  of  15  th  century. 
MS.   Harl.   2391:   quarto;  northern  dialect:    paper;  second  half  of 

15th  century ;  contains  narrationes  only. 
MS.  Phillipps  8122:  small  quarto;  northern  dialect;  paper  and 
vellum  (vellum  enclosing  quires,  but  in  most  cases  apparently  ciit 
out  before  copying  of  contents);  small,  rather  careless  hand;  215 
leaves,  of  which  corners  are  torn  through  12  ;  bound  in  vellum- 
covered  oak  boards ;  date  not  earlier  than  last  quarter  of  14th  century. 
Begins  with  a  fragment  of  homily  for  Nativity.      Homilies  run  from   i 

*  Horstmann,  p.  Ixiv. 
2  Cf.  Horstmann,  p.  Iviii. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  7 

to  185(a)  and  include  a  life  of  St.  Bartholomew  inserted  abruptly 
into  Dom.  XV.  post  Trin.  At  bottom  of  185(a)  is  a  colophon  with 
the  name  of  the  scribe  : 

'^Nome  sc^ptoris  R.  S.^  plenu  amoris." 

\Tith  185(b)  begins  a  Life  of  St.  Anne  which  runs  to  216(b),  the 
end  of  the  volume.     Begins  : 

"  All  \)t  haues  lykyng  for  to  lere       I  herkens  now 
Of  prophetes  sawes  &  storys  sere  |      to  me." 

MS.  Phillipps  8254:  small  quarto;  northern  dialect;  paper;  174 
leaves,  of  which  half  of  first  has  been  torn  out ;  bound  in  modern 
Russia;  writing  clear  but  hurried,  changes  at  beginning  of  144(a); 
date  first  half  of  15th  century.  Breaks  in  MS.  include  portion  of 
homily  for  Purification  and  for  Dom.  LXX ;  from  Feria  II.  in  XL. 
*'And  fande  per  when  ])ai  com  thider. " — to  homily  for  In  die  Pentec. 

1  The  second  letter  may  possibly  be  G.  Mr.  F.  Madan,  who  was  kind  enough  to 
examine  a  sketch  of  the  letter  made  from  the  MS.,  judged  it  to  be  '^probably. 


TABLE    SHOWING    CONTENTS   OF   VARIOUS   MSS. 
WITH    THEIR   ARRANGEMENT. 


Lines 


show  that  homilies  are  contained  in  MS. 


Lines  show  lacunae  in  MS. 

Lines  oooooocxx)  show  that  homilies  were  never  contained  in  MS. 


Ash.  43  and  Lambeth  260. 

Camb. 

Univ. 

Gg.  V.  31 

Camb. 

Univ. 

Dd.  \.  I 

Edinb. 

Phil. 
8122. 

Phil. 
8254. 

Harl.^ 
2391- 

( tales,  only) 

Titlt  0/  Horn.         Narr.  {if  any). 
Prologus. 
Ratio. 
Dom.  I.  in  Ad-    Mary  Magdalene. 

0000000000 



See  below. 

Abbess  only. 
See  below.  / 

ventu. 
Dom.  II.  in  Ad-    Monk    who     Re- 

ventu.                       turned. 
Dom.  III.  in  Ad-    Death     of     John 

ventu.                       Bapt. 
Dom.  IV.  in  Ad-    Pilgrims     to    St. 

ventu.                        James. 
In  die  Nativita-    (i)  St.  Martin,  (2) 

tis.                             St.  Antony,  (3) 
St.  Machary. 

Title  diff. 

Title  like 
Fdin. 

/ 

Dom.    inf.     oct.    Archbishop     and 
Nat.                          Nun. 

0  0  06  0  0/000 

In  Epiphania.         Three  Kings. 
Dom.     I.     post    St.  John  and  the 

Epiph.                      Boy. 
Dom.     II.    post    St.  Thomas' 

000000 0000 

0000000000 

0000/000000 

Epiph.                      Mother. 
Dom.    III.   post    Gyezi. 

Epiph. 
Dom.    IV.    post    Avaricious  Knight. 

/ 

Epiph. 
Dom.     V.     post    Devil    as    Physi- 

/ 

Epiph.                      cian. 
In  Purificatione.     (i)     Widow,    (2) 

^ 

Abbess. 
Dom.  LXX.            Hermit  who  Re- 

" '^i  z'^' 

canted. 
Dom.  LX.               Mawryne. 
Dom.  L.                  St.    Bernard    and 

Peasant. 
Dom.  I.  in  XL.       Placidas. 

0000000000 

Dom.  II.  in  XL.    Uncharitable  Her- 

mit. 
In  die  Annunc.        Knight  saved  by 

000000000 

^2^ 

Mary. 
Dom.     III.     in    St.  Bede. 

XL. 
Dom.  IV.  in  XL.     Piers  Toller. 

In     Passione    Hermit     and 

Dom.                         Thieves. 
Dom.  in  Ramis.     Man     in    Devil's 

Placed  before 
Sermo 

Leash. 
In  die  Pasche.         St.     Martin     and 

Petri  et  Pauli 

oeoooooooo 

Beggar. 
Feria  II.                   Devil  in  Church 

... 

000000  000 

Dom.      I.     post    St.   Edmund    and 

Pasche.                    Devil. 
Dom.     II.    post    Theobald. 

Pasche. 

Dom.   III.    post    Good  Monk. 

Pasche. 
Dom.    IV.  post 

Pasche. 
Dom.     V.     post    Mother  of  James 

Pasche.                    and  John. 
In  Ascensione.        Carpus. 



ooooooooeo 

NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION 


Ash.  42  and  Lambeth  260. 


Title  of  Horn. 

Dom.     inf.    oct. 

Asc. 
In  die  Pentecos- 

tes. 

Feria  II. 

In  die  S.  Trinita- 

tis. 
Dom. 

Trin. 


post 


Dom.     II.    post 

Trin. 
Dom.    HI.   post 

Trin. 
Dom.    IV.    post 

Trin. 


Narr.  {if  any). 
Melancholy  King. 

Obedient  Servant. 

Thaisis. 
Baptism  of  Christ. 


Hermit  and  Angel. 
Creation. 
Harsh  Monk. 


Dom.     V. 
Trin. 


post 


Dom.    VI.    post 

Trin. 
Dom.  VII.  post 

Trin. 
Dom.  VIII.  post 

Trin. 
Dom.    IX.   post 

Trin. 
Dom.     X.    post 

Trin. 

Dom.    XI.    post 
Trin. 

Dom.  XII.  post 
Trin. 

Dom.  XIII.  post 

Trin. 
Dom.  XIV.  post 

Trin. 
Dom.  XV.  post 

Trin. 
Dom.  XVI.  post 

Trin. 

Dom. XVII. post 
Trin. 

Dom.       XVIII. 

post  Trin. 
Dom.  XIX.  post 

Trin. 

Dom.  XX.  post 

Trin. 
Dom.  XXI.  post 

Trin. 
Dom.XXII.post 

Trin. 

Dom.      XXIII. 

post  Trin. 
Dom.       XXIV. 

post  Trin. 


In  VigiliaS.  Joh- 
annis  Bapt. 


Hermit     and     St. 
Oswald. 


Theophil. 
Parish  Priest. 
Gardener. 
Monk's  Brother. 
St.  Pelagia. 
Forgiving  Knight. 

(i)  Gregory  and 
Trajan,  (2)  Im- 
prisoned Jews. 

Gregory's  Aunts. 

Despised  Nun. 

Backbiting  Monk. 

Esther. 

(In  Ash.  referred 
to  Dom.  IV.  in 
XL.  In  Lamb., 
a  Latin  homily.) 


IndieS.Johannis    St.  Alexis. 
Bapt. 

Sermo   in    Festo     Simon  Magus. 
Petri  et  Pauli. 

(Lacuna  in  Ash.  from  Dom.  XX.  to 
Dom.  XXII.  post  Irin.) 


10 


G.  H.   GEROULD 


It  is  evident  from  this  table  that  the  MSS.  may  be  divided  roughly 
into  two  groups : 

Ash.  42. 
Lamb.  260. 
I.     <  Camb.  G  g  V.  31. 
Camb.  D  d  I.  I. 
Harl.  2391. 

Edin. 

Phill.  8122. 
Phill.  8254. 

This  is  shown  by  the  heading  for  Nativity  in  Edin.  and  Phill.  8254  ; 
by  the  narrative  of  St.  Thomas'  mother  for  Dom.  II.  post  Epiph., 
omitted  in  Phill.  8122,  Phill.  8254,  and  Harl.  2391  ;  by  the  titles  given 
for  the  same  Sunday  in  Edin.,  Phill.  8122,  and  Phill.  8254  ;  by  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  homilies  for  Annunciation,  Dom.  III.,  and  Dom. 
IV.  in  Quadragesima ;  by  the  omission  of  the  narrative  for  Dom.  XX. 
post  Trin.  in  Phill.  8122  and  Phill.  8254  ;  and  by  the  inclusion  of  the 
narratives  of  St.  Alexis  and  Simon  Magus  in  the  members  of  the  first 
group  only.  Notwithstanding  the  individual  peculiarities  of  Camb. 
D  d  I.  I  and  Harl.  2391  they  range  themselves,  as  far  as  can  be 
judged  from  their  contents,  with  group  i. 

On  the  basis  of  this  conjectural  arrangement  a  detailed  study  of  the 
affiliations  of  the  MSS.  may  be  made.  I  have  omitted  Harl.  2391  and 
indicate  the  MSS.  by  the  following  letters  :      . 

A=  MS.  Ash.  42. 


B=    ' 

'     Camb.  Gg  V.  31. 

C=    ' 

'     Lamb.  260. 

D=    ' 

'     Camb.  DdL  i. 

E=    ' 

'     Phillipps  8254. 

F=    ' 

'           ''         8122. 

G  =  Edin.  (as  printed  by  Small). 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  II 


RELATION    OF   A   TO    C. 

Taking  the  homily  for  the  2d  Sunday  in  Advent  as  the  basis  of  com- 
parison. 

( 1 )  The  close  relationship  is  shown  by  the  following  instances  where 
A  and  C  differ  from  the  other  MSS.  but  are  like  each  other  :  (2)  what ; 
(8)  folk  thole  bathe  traye ;  (9)  fall;  (13)  in  heght ;  (14)  all  of; 
(16)  mageste  and  grete ;  (19)  ]?ese  ;  (22)  vs  boght  when  we  ware ; 
(24)  Anothir;  (28)  je  may;  (29)  ]m  takenynges  when  je  se ;  (31) 
sail  awaiefare;  (4i)spekes;  (42)  in  it  vs;  (49)  pat;  (51)  bales; 
(58)  pe  pore  it  .  .  .  sowande ;  (69)  And;  (72)  for;  (75)  |)at 
takenynges;  (76)  sterne  &  sonne ;  (85)  J)ai  may  pen  trow;  (86) 
com  pan  in  hy ;  (88)  may  instead  ^  sal ;  (89)  pare  pai ;  (102) 
takens;  (103)  says;  (io4)takens;  (105)  dome  sail;  (109)  hill; 
(hi)  hilles;  ( 1 1 2 )  Sexti  fete  ;  (116)  haue  lesse  ;  (117)  pe  mere- ; 
(121)  ferde;  (122)  brynne ;  130  quake  &  stere  &  all  men;  (131) 
hilles;  (133)  oute ;  (134)  &  als  .  .  .  out  of  caues  lepe ;  (136)  in 
lyes;  (140)  pat  gret ;  (141)  uerraymente  ;  (142)  All  pe  erde  brenne 
&  pe  firmamente;  (144)  newe  be  made  &  pat;  (145)  all  men  pan; 
(146)  wip  paim  to  pat  assyse ;  (147,  148,  149,  150)  represented  in 
other  texts  by  two  lines ;  (152)  had  leuere  ;  (154)  it  breme  ;  (155) 
To  all  synfull  pat  comes  pare  ;  (158)  schamesli ;  (i63)maye;  (168) 
paynes;  (169)  es  in  synne  ;  (170)  throughout;  (173)  pan  may  pai ; 
(175)  all  men;  (176) '  sawmpil ;  (177,  178,  183,  186)  fermorere ; 
(192)  Faythe  ymange ;  (193)  fermorere;  (203)  If  god;  (206) 
leue  pat;  (216)  brijt ;  (222)  foule  sathane  ;  (223)  pe  toper  thojt ; 
(226)  to  now;  (232)  it  ferde ;  (234)  To;  (235)  I  foundid ;  (238, 
245)  I  jalde;  (247)  I  sawe ;  (248)  pt  I  had  done;  (249)  In  pe 
rewle  in ;  (251)  Forthi ;  (252)  to  hell  for  euere  mare ;  (260)  pen- 
aunce;  (265)  pis  many ;  (266)  He  gert  his  brepir  for  him ;  (268) 
wyse;  (274)  forgiuen ;  (276)  vnshriuen ;  (278)  vs  all  forgiuen ; 
(279)  vs  burd  oure  synnes  bete ;  (283)  clenli  vs  schryue  ;  (284)  And 
do  rijt  penaunce  in  pis  lyue  ;   (286)  to;    (287)  euer  mare  sail. 

( 2 )  The  separation  of  C  from  A  is  shown  by  these  instances,  where 
C  differs  from  A  when  A  is  normal :  (4)  pt  es  to  pe  ;  (5)  says  ;  (10) 
pai  sallse;  (23)  had  pis ;  (30)  Wt  pt  criste  es  nere  comand ;  (32) 
euermare;   (43)   for  to  sak ;   (62)  &  of  scathe;   {(i2>)  prines    [sic] 


12  G.    H.    GEROULD 

prud;  (66)  jemes  riche  ;  (67)  es  hay  ;  (68)  Ynowghe  mete;  (79) 
oure  takenynges;  (81)  /eaves  out  he  sais ;  (98)  ])at  nere ;  (106) 
daie  sail  fall;  (108)  ere  be;  (132)  j^e  erde ;  (140)  vn  to;  (141) 
foiirtend  sail;  (152)  leuere  fie ;  (158)  wehaf;  (196)  lufe  him;  (197) 
j)t  he  felde  ;  (201)  for  hym  was  full;  (202)  full  ^are ;  (216)  He 
come  to  his  fellow  full ;  (22i)noght;  (229)  lyfed  ;  (249)  plase ; 
(255)  Ihesu  criste  ;  (256)  be  in  purgatorie  ;  (257)  To  dense  ;  (267) 
tald  50we  ;   (271)  rekenyng  ;   (  2  7  5  )  fer  sail. 

(3)  C  could  not  have  been  copied  from  A,  as  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing instances  where  C  differs  from  A  when  A  differs  from  normal  r 
(17)  fer  begynnes  to;  (20)  nere  ])an  commen  es ;  (33)  All  }>e ; 
(47)  of  Jje  takens;  (70)  &  hase ;  (84)  synfull  men  may  mykyll 
morne;  (88)  J)ai  may;  (151)  griseli  to  ]?aim ;  (233)  &  son  sayd 
eftyr  I  jeld  ;   (247)  I  sare  )?er  pen  ;   (250)  gastly  wase  ;  (254)  had  I. 

(4^  The  same  is  shown  by  the  following  readings  from  A,  when  C 
follows  normal  and  A  does  not :  (21)  he  talde  ;  (34)  fordo  ne  ;  (36) 
ende  brojt ;  (40)  in  yng- ;  (41)  on  fis;  (55)  saide  ;  (57)  were  fall; 
(123)  daye  gresse ;  (138)  thrittend  sail ;  (158)  lorne ;  (218)  And 
prayed;   (281)  rijt  J>are  ;   (271)  For  fare  ;    (279)   For  ]ns. 

We  have,  then,  established  the  fact  that  A  and  C  proceed  from  a 

common  original  which  we  may  call  A*.     This  may  be  represented 

graphically  as  follows : 

A* 

/\ 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY  COLLECTION  1 3 


RELATIONS  OF  A*,  B,  D,  G,  and  E. 

Again  considering  the  homily  for  the  2d  Sunday  in  Advent.  Varia- 
tions from  normal  (in  case  of  D  leaving  dialectical  changes  out  of  ac- 
count). Larger  numbers  are  numbers  of  lines  in  Do7n.  II.  in  Ad. 
Smaller  numbers  show  similarity  or  difference  of  changes  in  indi- 
vidual lines. 

A*.  2^  8\  9^  i3\  i4\  16^  17,  19,  22,  24\  28^  29,  31,  33^,  40, 
4I^  \2\  47S  5I^  6(>\  6g\  7o^   72,   75,  76\  8I^  84S  85,  86S  88S 

89, 102^,  io3\  I05^  ioqs  III^  112^,  116,  I.I7^  121^  122^  130^, 

131.  i33»  134',  136',  140',  i4i\  142',  144',  146',  i47\  148',  149 
and  150  only  in  K^,  \^\\  152,  i54\  155^  163,  173^  175,  176^  I77^ 
178^  i98\  203,  2o6\  2i6\  222\  223\  232,  233\  234^  235,  238^ 
245'j  247S  248^  249^  25o\  252^  254S  258  inserted,  260,  262\  265, 
266\  268^  272^  276\  279^  284\  286^  287^ 

B.  15,  18,  21,  23,  33^  34S  35,  38^  4I^  44^  46^  46^  47^  5o\ 
53\  54\  57\  60,  6i\  62,  63s  66^  67\  69^  7i\  74,  78,  84^  86^  94, 
98^  99\  100^,  100^,  102^^,  112^,  118,  121^,  123^,  124^  125^  i26\ 
130'j  138',  139-142  replaced,  \\f,  I44^  I5I^  I55^  157,  161^  i62\ 
167^  171,  172^  176^  178^,  182^  184^  186^,  188,  190,  193^  194^, 
i96\  I97^  198^  2oo\  205^  2o6^  209,  213^  225\  227^  228\  237, 
244,  246^,  247^*,  249^,  line  inserted  before  254,  254^,  259^  261^,  267^, 
27iS  272^  274^  282,  283s  2871 

D.  i^  6^  9%  10,  11^  i2\  13^  14^  24^  25s  28\  30^  34^  36\ 
40,  42^  46^  5I^  53^  54^  59\  60,  6I^  63^  66\  70^  74,  79  and 
80  reversed,  8i^  82,  88^,  89,  93,  ioo\  loi,  102^  104^  105'',  106, 
I09^  IIo^    iii\  113,    114,  117',    118,    ii9\  121^    123s  124^    132, 

134',  135'j  136',  138',  139'.  142',  143'.  144',  147',  148',  154',  156', 
159,  i6o\  i6i^  162^  165,  166^,  167^,  172^,  175,  178^  179  and  180 
omitted,  181,  182^  188,  194^,  196^  197^  198^  199^  203,  205^,  207, 

211, 212, 2i3\  214, 2I6^  225^  226, 227^  228^  229, 230, 231, 232, 

233'.  234',  240^  241,  243^  245^  246^  247^  250^  254^  262\  264, 
265,  266^  267^  268^  271^,  273,  276*,  279^,  28o\  281,  284^ 

G.  9^  I2^  26, 28^  3o^  32, 48^  55, 57^  59^  66^  67^  ^e,  79\ 

8i^  82,  iio\  I25^  126^  128,  140',  142^  143^  i56\  i66\  I72^  174, 

177^  185,  I86^  189,  I93^  194^  I99^  200^  204, 207,  211,  213', 


14 


G.  H.  GEROULD 


214,  225',  228',  243»,  259^  262s  26f,  272^  274',  275,  279^  28oS 
283',  284',  285,  2861 

E.  i',  2',  5,  6\  7  and  8  reversed,  g\  II^  14',  18,  21',  24^  25', 
26,  33',  34%  36',  38',  42',  44',  46',  47',  48',  5o\  S3\  54\  63',  64, 
66',  69',  71%  75»  76',  79%  82,  86%  87,  89,  90,  94,  98^  99^  ioo\ 
io2%  103%  104',  105%  109%  iio%  115,  119%  I22^  124^  126',  128, 
130%  135%  136%  138',  139%  141%  142*,  146%  151%  156%  i6i%  i66^ 
167-172  omitted,   173%  176',  177',  178*,  182^  184',  186',  189,  190, 

193',     197%    198',     199%    200^    202,     204,    206^     211,    222^     223',    225', 

228%  230, 233%  238^  24o^  243^  244, 245^,  247*,  248^  25o^  254^ 

257,  259%  261^  271%  274%  275,  280%  283%  288.  183  is  the  same 
in  B  and  E. 

Where  all  five  agree:  3,  4,  27,  37,  39,  43,  45,  52,  65,  68,  73,  77, 
83,  91,  92,  96,  97,  107,  108,  127,  129,  137,  153,  164,  187,  191, 
195,  201,  208,  210,  215,  217,  219,  220,  224,  236,  239,  242,  253, 
255,  256,  263,  269,  270,  277. 

Where  all  disagree:  20,  49,  56,  58,  95,  120,  145,  158,  168,  169, 
170,  183,  192,  218,  221,  251,  278,  284. 

Thus  out  of  288  lines  45  are  the  same  in  all  five  MSS.  and  18  dif- 
ferent in  each  MS.  A*  has  95  individual  variations  from  the  normal, 
B  has  92,  D  has  121,  G  has  55,  and  E  has  109.  The  relative  propor- 
tion of  mistakes  in  G  is  therefore  little  more  than  half  that  in  any 
other  MS. 

Places  where  E  has  mistakes  like  G  alone  :  (9)  sal  duin  .  .  .  of  se ; 
(26)  tresfroit;  (no)  felle /<?r  hille  ;  (120)  bremly  bete  ;  (177)0! 
j>e  heuin  ;  (186)  enfermer ;  (189)  ful  wel ;  (193)  enfermer  ;  (199) 
And  said  ful  hard;  (204)  That  he  suld ;  (225)  alle  wel;  (243) 
ouerlop  ;   (259)  hop  I;   (275)  the  sines. 

Where  E  has  mistakes  like  G  and  D:  (82)salse;  (199)  And  said ; 
(211)  for  his  mercy e. 

Where  E  has  mistakes  like  D  alone  :  (34)thyng;  (230)  dampned  ; 
(254)  Gud  help. 

Where  E  has  mistakes  like  B  alone  :  (18)  Lyfte  your  heued  ;  (33) 
thyng;  (38)  kyngdom  euer;  (53)  mekill  baret  brew;  (54)  And 
fast  doun  fell;  (66)  fro  many ;  (94)  on  fame  lefes  sees ;  (151)  till 
|>ame  sail  he ;  (176)  syn  both ;  (190)  And  drogh  to  gedir  wt  luf  and 
selle ;  (197)  }>at  he  foore ;  (200)  I  drawe  to  ded ;  (228)  That  here 
in;  (244)  resouns;   ( 2 7 1 )  |>are  be  knawen  ;   (264)  forgeten. 

Where  E  has  mistakes  like  B  and  D:  (100)  sail  brynges;  (182) 
God  haues. 


NORTH-ENGLISH   HOMILY  COLLECTION  1 5 

Where   D  has  mistakes  like  A  alone:    28\  40,  66,  102^  175,  203, 

232,  250,  262^  265. 

Like  B  alone  :   60,  74,  118,  188,  2i3\ 

Like  G  alone  :  156^  166^,  172^,  194^  207, 
214. 

Like  E  alone  :   34^,  230. 

Like  A  and  E:   89. 

Like  B  and  E:    ioo\  254^ 

Like  G  and  E:   82,  211. 


l6  G.    H.    GEROULD 


RELATIONS    OF   A*,    B,    D,    F,    AND    G. 

Taking  the  3d  Sunday  after  Epiphany  as  the  basis  of  comparison  — 
Places  where  the  MSS.  have  individual  variations  from  the  normal :  — 
A*.  (5)  askidhim;  (7  and  8)  only  in  A;  (12)  on  him  was  na 
wemme  ;  (14)  him  hele ;  (20)  ryche ;  (26)  fe  to|)er ;  (29  and  30) 
entire;  (49)  haythen ;  (50)  welemare;  (53)  J^are  criste ;  (55)  wan- 
hope;  (56)  sarzynes;  (64)  euene  [C.  steuene];  (65)  fare  omitted; 
(66)  |)are  euer;  (74)  In  fe ;  (80)  brojt  out;  (89)  had  fra  heuene  ; 
(91)  ]>e  lepire;  (95)  synne ;  (97)  And  bolnynge ;  (98)  Es  lepire 
callid  )?at  som ;  (io6)godes;  (109)  a  gastely ;  (iio)sawle;  (112) 
for  his;  (120)  full  vncely;  (129)  sente  him;  (130)  of  siluer  gode 
wane;  (131)  ]?aim  in  ;  (141)  sawe  wele  ;  (151)  For  ]>is  ;  (152)  Lepir 
callid ;  (158)  mesell  man;  (164)  gerre  synne;  (171)  for;  (177) 
open  ;  (185)  ihesu  vs  ))idir  spede. 

B.  (11)  }>e  make;  (14)  hys  hele ;  (14  a  and  b)  only  in  B ;  (27) 
ane  vn worthy  ;  (28)  sail  come  ;  (31)  j^i  pouste  ;  (42)  myght  fullfylle  ; 
(45)  Vnto;  (56)  And  ))ay  |>e  payem  \t  trowes  ;  (59)  And  mykell ; 
(60)  And  by  este ;  (67)  our  saw;  (78)  ])ar  fore  .  .  .  hys  selle  ; 
(83)  wyll  I  |)e ;  (84)  bene  clene ;  (104)  now  confundes ;  (105) 
whar  men;  (106)  and  prelatyes;  (112)  hys  clergy;  (117)  walde 
nane;  (118)  bath  synne;  (122)  of  synne ;  (126)  For  to;  (128) 
walde  he  faim ;  (138)  Whyne  coms ;  (143)  For  why;  (147)  J>an 
hyght;  (152)  haly  wrythe  ;  (154)  And  to  criste;  (158)  vnhaly ; 
(161-166)  077iitted ;  (178)  A  man  to  hell  ;  (179)  loues ;  (181)  And 
j>us  if. 

D.  (6)  ])e  folk  ))twer;  (12)  anon  no  wem  was;  (19)  And  ]?an  ; 
(28)  ]>t  |)u  come  ;  (30)  ben  schal  he  ;  (32)  knyhtis  haue ;  (33)  anon 
go|> ;  (34)  sone  to  me;  (39)  wile  a  word;  (62)  ioye  schul  take; 
(63)  to  heuene;  (Jid^  grennynge ;  (68)  ]ns  day  do|) ;  (70)  |)is  good 
man  anon  ;  (71)  I  haue;  {"]  2)  entire;  (74)  anon;  (75)of)?is;  (79) 
madal;  (80)  hate  bote;  (88)  Man  had  not  ben  holpin  ;  (89)  not 
to;  (91)  &  synne;  (93)  For  riht  as  a;  (94)  It  maki)>  vnhol  and 
lotheU;  (96)  foul  &  loth  ;  (97)  foul  pride  ;  (loo)ofkynd;  (105-6) 
^/«/V/<?^/  (107)  For  |>ing;  (109)  Euer  whan  ;  (iii)  sum  tyme  ;  (122) 
&  wi]?  couetise  for  to  craue  ;  (125)  sente  ;  ( 1 28)  he  muste  hem  ;  (134) 
&  treccheri ;  (138)  Fro  when  he  cam  &  what  he  had  ;  (139)  sir  nowhar  ; 


NORTH-ENGLISH   HOMILY   COLLECTION  fj 

(140)  ])a.T ;   (143-4)  omitted;   (147)  be  hihte  ;   (148)  I  jow  plyhte; 

(154)  Crist  com;  (156)  Til  crist  com  &  away  wipid  it;  (158)  sike 
man;  (161)  So  gostli  he  helid  ;  (162)  forw ;  (166)  seyth  |)is  day ; 
(169-70)  reversed ;  (171)  lyui]> ;  (172)  folower;  (178)  to  ])e  fendis ; 
two  additional  lines  at  end. 

F.  (6)  felychepe  [sic]  ;  (25)  seruaundes ;  (28)  house  com;  (31) 
haue  men  ;  (34)  Forth  gase  ;  (42)  yt  myght  fulfull ;  (45)  forsoyth  he 
sayde  ;  (49)  wryten  se  ;  (51)  fe  Iwes  [sic]  ;  (53)  )>e  Iwes;  (55)  And 
suld;  (66)  mare  be  wt  sar ;  (68)  In  our  gospell ;  (73)  seruaundes; 
(74)  \zi  vprase;  (76)  tell  may;  (79)  to  make  hell;  (80)  to  bed 
hym;  (85)  bot  yf;  {^Z)  he  bene ;  (93)  \q  body;  (94)  vncomly ; 
(99)  And  syn  of;  (104)  now  spilles  o;  (112)  for  fals  ;  (113)  ]?is 
bokes;  (115)  ane  halyman  ;  (118)  ft  war;  (123)  And  fast  he  ran; 
(130)  fayr  plente  ;  (135)  ne  omitted ;  (136)  o  ^ar ;  (141)  \\  vntryfte  ; 
(142)  som  gyfte  ;  (148)  Sa  be  fell;  (160)  tels  to  day;  (162)  for; 
(175)  Qwen  ]?ai  folow;    (178)  sathanas  in  ;   (184)  any  tene  or. 

G.  (6)  tha  fern  [?]  of  folc ;  (32)  ic  haf  knihtes;  (38)  worthi ; 
(42)  fille;  (47)  Imang  jowes ;  (52)  the  lau ;  (65)  ouer  ;  (74)  he 
rase;  (144)  and  sithen  it  helid;  (146)  mishale ;  (147)  Helyseus 
hiht;  (177)  fende. 

A*  thus  has  39  individual  variations  from  the  normal ;  B  has  ^i^  ; 
D  has  5  7  ;  F  has  40  ;  and  G  has  1 1 . 

Places  where  A*  has  variations  like  B  alone  :  (6)  all  l^at  folk  ;  (24) 
I  come;   (39)  an  anlepi. 

Like  D  alone:    (43)  criste  j^ojt ;   (65)  Putte  in  ;   (152)    in  boke ; 

(155)  Off  adame  lepire  mankynde  ;   (180)  self. 

Like  F  alone:  (33)  to  gange ;  (35)vnto;  (76)  tonge ;  (182) 
will  vs  lede. 

Like  B  and  D  :    (9)  ))are  ;    (93)  mannes  body  ;  (102)  fe  boke. 

Like  B  and  F  :    (150)  ]>e  boke. 

Like  D  and  F:  (25)  seniaunde ;  (40)  seruaunde ;  (54)  in;  (73) 
seruaunde. 

Like  B,  D,  andF:    (2)  hill. 

Places  where  B  has  variations  like  F  alone:  (3)  full  many;  (37) 
wel  omitted;  (63)  Into  ]7air  blys  wt  gud  atent ;  (64)  turment ;  (65) 
mekyll;  (72)  For  ])e  thar  her;  (78)  j^erfore ;  (no)  Mar  for  gyfte 
]?an  goddes  mede  ;  (127)  frendes  twa ;  (130)  gret  wan  ;  (131)  dyde ; 
(150)  hys;   (176)  vn  to. 

Like  G  alone  :    (169)  Summe  hys  myrakyll. 


1 3  G.    H.    GEROULD 

Like  D  and  F :   (90)  fra  hym. 

Places  where  D  has  variations  like  F  alone:  (46)  begins  I;  (59) 
J>e  west;  (112)  symony;  (159)  hil ;  (165)  hille ;  (167)  folewid ; 
(168)  folowid. 

Like  G  alone  :    {-^z)  And  I. 

Places  where  F  has  variations  like  G  alone:  (82)  his  benisoune ; 
(98  a  and  b  )  only  in  these  MSS. ,  but  they  disagree  inform  with  each  other. 

Notwithstanding  the  close  relations  which  subsist  between  A  and  C, 
certain  passages  indicate  contamination  of  one  or  the  other  MS.:  — 

(13)  A,  B,  and  F  have  ])is  myracle  fele,  while  C  conforms  to  the 
normal ;  (70)  C  has  kynght  \sic'\  in  company  with  B  and  F,  while  A 
conforms  to  the  normal ;  (75)  ^  and  D  have  gospell  of  todaye,  while 
C  conforms  to  the  normal ;  (137)  C,  D,  F,  and  G  omit  full,  while  A 
does  not ;  (173)  C  agrees  with  D  with  folowes  for  loues,  while  A  is 
normal. 

From  the  foregoing  examination  of  these  two  homilies,  the  affiliation 
of  the  MSS.  appears  to  be  that  represented  by  the  following  diagram : 


The  inconsistencies  which  will  be  noticed  by  comparing  the  dia- 
gram with  the  tabulated  variations  are  probably  to  be  explained  by  the 
popularity  of  the  collection  and  by  the  carelessness  of  ecclesiastical 
scribes  who  had  the  less  regard  for  the  form  of  the  work  since  it  was 
non-literary.  That  is,  all  the  MSS.  which  are  preserved,  doubtless 
only  a  tithe  of  those  which  once  existed,  were  quite  evidently  made 
for  actual  use  by  priests  in  their  homiletic  labors.  For  the  form  and 
literary  finish  of  the  homilies  they  would  care  nothing,  even  though 
regard  for  such  matters  had  been  characteristic  of  the  time.  This 
carelessness  renders  it  uncommonly  difficult  to  disentangle  the  rela- 
tions of  the  surviving  MSS. 


NORTH-ENGLISH   HOMILY  COLLECTION  ig 


FRAGMENTS. 

Bodleian  fragments,  MS.  Eng.  poet.,c  4,  bought  from  Quaritch  in 
1895  and  identified  by  Professor  Napier,  contain  Narr.  of  St.  Oswald 
from  Dom.  XL  post  Trin.  in  part.  It  follows  Ash.  42  rather  closely 
and  certainly  belongs  to  the  group  A,  B,  C,  D,  F. 

The  Robartes  fragment  I  have  not  seen. 


30 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


PART   II. 

ANALYSIS   OF   TALES   AND    NOTES    ON   THEIR 

ORIGIN. 

NOTE. 

I  have  verified  all  the  references  contained  in  the  following  notes, 
except  in  a  few  cases,  where  I  have  always  referred  to  my  authority.  I 
have  put  the  titles  of  the  stories  which  are  taken  from  the  Bible  in 
their  proper  places,  but  have  done  nothing  further  with  them.  The 
tales  are  treated  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear  in  the  collection. 

LIST   OF  TALES. 

1.  Mary  Magdelayne. 

2.  The  Monk  who  Returned  from  Death. 

3.  Death  of  John  the  Baptist. 

4.  Pilgrim  to  St.  James. 

5.  St.  Martin  and  the  Devil. 

6.  St.  Anthony  and  the  Snares. 

7.  St.  Machary. 

8.  The  Archbishop  and  the  Nun. 

9.  The  Three  Kings. 

10.  St.  John  and  the  Boy. 

11.  Birth  of  St.  Thomas. 

12.  Gyezi  and  Naaman. 

13.  The  Usurious  Knight. 

14.  The  Devil  as  Physician. 

15.  The  Hermit  Who  Returned  to  the  World. 

16.  The  Monk  Mawryne. 

17.  St.  Bernard  and  the  Peasant. 

18.  St.  Eustace. 

19.  The  Uncharitable  Hermit. 

20.  The  Knight  Beguiled  by  the  Devil. 

21.  St.  Bede  and  the  Birds. 

22.  Piers  Toller. 

23.  The  Hermit  and  the  Thieves. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  2T 

24.  The  Man  in  the  Devil's  Leash. 

25.  St.  Martin's  Cloak. 

26.  The  Devil  in  Church. 

27.  St.  Edmund  and  the  Devil. 

28.  Theobald  and  the  Leper. 

29.  The  Monk  who  Prayed  to  See  the  Joys  of  Heaven. 

30.  The  Mother  and  Her  Sons. 

3 1 .  Carpus. 

32.  The  Melancholy  King  and  His  Brother. 

33.  The  Obedient  Servant. 

34.  Taysis. 

35.  The  Hermit  and  the  Angel. 
^6.  Story  of  Creation. 

37.  The  Monk  who  was  Harsh  in  Judging. 

38.  The  Hermit  and  St.  Oswald. 

39.  Theophil. 

40.  The  Adulterous  Priest. 

41.  The  Thrifty  Gardener. 

42.  The  Wicked  Brother  of  a  Monk. 

43.  St.  Pelagia. 

44.  The  Knight  who  Forgave  His  Enemy. 

45.  St.  Gregory  and  Trajan's  Soul. 

46.  The  Imprisoned  Jews. 

47.  Tarsilla,  Gordiana  and  Emiliana. 

48.  The  Despised  Nun. 

49.  The  Backbiting  Monk. 

50.  The  Story  of  Esther. 

51.  The  Widow's  Candle. 

52.  The  Prioress  who  was  Miraculously  Delivered. 

53.  St.  Alexis. 

54.  Simon  Magus. 

55.  The  Wise  Son. 


22  •       G.    H.    GEROULD 


PARTIAL    LIST    OF    BOOKS   AND   ARTICLES    USED 
IN  PREPARATION  OF  NOTES. 

Ada  Sanctorufn,  ed.  Bollandists,  Antwerp. 

Aelfric,  Metrical  Lives  of  Saints,  ed.  Skeat,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Grig.    ser. 

(1881-1900). 
Bourbon  (Etienne  de),  Anecdotes  Historiques,  etc.,  ed.  Lecoy  de  la 

Marche,  1877. 
Bozon  (Nicole  de),  Les  Contes  Moralises,  ed.  Smith  and  Meyer,  So- 

ci^te  des  Anciens  Textes  Fran^ais,  1889. 
Brandeis  (Arthur),  ed.  Jacobus  Well,  Part  I.,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  1900. 
Bromyard    (Johannes),  Summa  Prcedicantiuin,  Antonius    Koberger, 

Niirnberg,  1485. 
Cantipratanus  (Thomas),  Bonum   Universale  de  Apibus,  Duaci,  1605 

and  1627. 
Cassianus  (Johannes),    Collationes,  Migne,  Patr.    Curs.   Lat.  t.  xlix. 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Historia  Ecclesiastica,  etc. ,  Migne,  Patr.  Curs^ 

Lat.  t.  IX. 
Coincy  (Gautier  de).  Miracles  de  la  Sainte   Vierge,  ed.    I'Abbe  Po- 

quet,  1857. 
Cond^   (Jehan  de),  Le  Dit  diL  Roi  et  des  Hermites,  ed.   Scheler,  in 

Dits  et  Contes  de  B.  de  Conde,  1866-7. 
Comu  (J.)   ed.   Traite  de  Devotion  {Extraits)  (from  MS.  266,  BibL 

■    d'Alcobaca  Torre  de  Tombo,  Lisbon),  Romania  XL,  p.  381. 
Crane    (T.    F.),    ed.  Jacques  de    Vitry :  Exempla,   Folk-Lore   Soc.,. 

1890. 
Crane  (T.  F. ),  ed.  Medieval  Sermon  Books  and  Stories,  1883. 
Eude  de  Cheriton,  Fables  and  Sermons,  cf.  Hervieux. 
Foerster  (W.)  and  Koschwitz  (E.),  Altfranzosisches  Ubungsbuch,  1884. 
Fumivall  (F.   J.),  ed.   Robert  of  Brunne' s  Handlying  Synne  with  the 

French  Treatise  on  Which  it  is  Founded  Le  Manuel  des  Pechiez  by- 
William  of  Waddington,  Roxb.  Club,  1862. 
Fumivall  (F.  J.),  ed.  Adam  Davie's  Dreams,  E.  E.  T.  S.  Grig.  Ser., 

1878. 
Gaster  (M. ),  Chronicles  of  Jerahmeel,  Royal  Asiatic  Soc,  1899. 
Gaster  (M.)  An  Old  Hebrew  Romance  of  Alexander,  Journal  Royal 

Asiat.  Soc,  1897. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  23 

Godric  (St.),  De  ,Vita  S.  Godrici,  Surtees  Soc,  1845. 

Gregory  the  Great,  Homilies  and  Dialogues ,  Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Laf., 

LXXVI.,  LXXVII. 
Gregory  of  Tours,  Opera,  Migne,  Fair.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXI. 
Guibert  de  Nogent,  Opera  Omnia,  ed.  Luc  d' Archery,  Paris,  1651. 
Hagen  (Fried.  Hein.  von  der),  Gesammtabentetier,  1850. 
Hampson,  Medii  Aevi  Calendarium. 

Heisterbach  {Q2.^^'axvovC),Dialogus  Miraculorum,^^.  J.  Strange,  185 1. 
Henczynski   {^\(:)!\'sxA^,  Leben  des  Heil.   Alexius,  Acta    Germanica, 

Band  VI. 
Henry   of  Huntingdon,  Historia   Anglorum,   ed.    Arnold,   Mast,    of 

Rolls  Ser.,  1879. 
Herolt  (John),  Sermones  Discipuli  de   Tempore  et  de  Sanctis,  Mogun- 

tiae,  1612. 
Herolt    (John),     Sermones    Discipuli    Quadragesiniales ,    Moguntiae, 

1612. 
Herolt  (John),  Promptuarium  Exemplorum,  Rothmagi,  15 11. 
Hervieux  (Leopold),  Les  Fabulistes  Latins,  Paris,  1893-99. 
Herz  (Joseph),  De  St.  Alexis,  Frankfurt,  1879. 
Herzfeld   (George),  An   Old  English  Martyrology,  E.E.T.S.   Orig. 

Ser.,  1900. 
Holkot  (Robertus),  Opus  super  Sapientiam  Salomonis,  Speyer,  1483. 
Horstmann  (Carl),  Barbour' s  Legendensammlung,  188 1-2. 
Horstmann  (Carl),  Die Legenden  des Hs.  Laud  108,  E.E.T.S.,  1872. 
Horstmann  (Carl),  Early  South- English  Legendary,  E.E.T.S.,  1887. 
Horstmann  (Carl),  Osbern  Bokenam' s  Legenden,  1883. 
Horstmann    (Carl),    Sammlung  Altenglische  Legenden,    Neue  Folge, 

1881. 
Horstmann  (Carl),   tjber  Osbern  Bokenam  und  seine  Legendensamm- 
lung, 1883. 
Horstmann    (Carl),   Zwei  Alexius-Legenden,   Herrig's  Archiv,   Bd. 

LVL 
Horstmann  (Carl),  Leben  des  h.  Alexius,  Herrig's  Archiv,  Bd.  LL 
Hugh  de  Saint-Victor,    Opera   Omnia,  Rouen,    1648  (Migne,  Patr. 

Curs.  Lat.,  CLXXV-CLXXVH). 
Jacobus  Diaconus,  Vita  S.  Pelagice  (Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXUL, 

col.  664). 
Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  ed.  Th.  Graesse,  1859. 
Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legende  Doree,  trans.   Jean  de  Vignay,   Paris, 

Verard,  1493. 


24 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legende  Doree,  trans.  M.  G.  B.  (Briinet),  1843. 

Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Golden  Legend ^  trans.  Caxton. 

Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Festialisy  comp.  John  Mirkus,  1495. 

Jacques  de  Vitry,  see  Crane,  ed. 

Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Cell,  Argentinae,  1483. 

Jubinal  (Achille),  Nouveau  Recueil  de  Contes,  Dits,  et  Fabliaux. 

Keller  (Adalbert  von),  Erzahlungen  aus  AM.  Hss.,  Bibl.   des  Litt. 

Ver.  zu  Stuttgart,  1855. 
Le  Grand  d'Aussy,  Fabliaux  ou  Contes  du  XII^  ct  du  XIII*  Siecle 

1781. 
Liebrecht  ( Felix ),y<?^«  Dunlop' s  Geschichte  der  Frosadictungen,  1851. 
Luard  (Henry  R.),  ed.  Flores  Historiarujn,  Mast,  of  Rolls  Ser.,  1890. 
Magnum  Speculum  Fxemplorum,  Douaci,  1603. 
Marbodes,    Opera,  ed.   Bourasse,   Migne,  Fair.    Curs.   Lat.,  CLXXL 

col.  1465. 
Martene  and  Durand,  Thesaurus  Anec dot oruin,  Paris,  171 7. 
Maurice  de  Sulli,  Les  Expositions  des  Evangiles  en  Frangoys,  Chablis 

1489. 
Maurice  de  Sulli,  Fva7igiles  et  Epitres,  Chambery,  1484. 
Maurice  de  Sulli,  Les  Manuscrits  des  Sermons  Frangais,  Paul  Meyer 

in  Romania  V.,  p.  466. 
Meon,  Fabliaux  et  Contes  (after  Barbazan),  Paris,  1808. 
Meon,  Nouveau  Recueil  de  Fabliaux  et  Contes,  etc.,  Paris,  1823. 
Metcalfe  (W.  M.),  ed.,  Legends  of  the  Saints,  Scot.  Text  Soc,  1887-96. 
Meyer  (P.),  ed..  La   Vie  de  S.  Gregoire par  Frere  Angler,  Ro77iania 

XII.,  p.  186. 
Mielot  (Jean),  Miracles  de  Nostre-Dame,   ed.  G.  F.  Warner,   Roxb. 

Club,  1885. 
Migne,  Fatrologia  Cursus  Completus  Latina. 
Migne,  Fatrologia  Cursus  Completus  Graeca. 

Montaigl on  and  Raynaud,  eds.  Recueil  des  Fabliaux,  6  tomes,  1872-90. 
Morris  (R.),  ed.,  Blickling Hotnilies,  E.E.T.S.  Orig.  Ser.,  1874-1880. 
Mussafia  (A.),  Studien  zu  den  mittelalterlichen  Marienlegenden,  I.-V. 

(Sitzungsberichte  der  K.  Akad.  der  Wissenschaft.),  Wien,  1887- 

1898. 
Mussafia  (A.),    Ueber  die  von   Gautier  de   Coincy   beniltzten   Quellen 

(Denkschriften  der  K.  Akad.  der  Wissen.  Phil.  Hist.  Classe  Bd. 

44),  Wien,  1896. 
Neckam  (Alexander),  ed.  T.  Wright,  Mast,  of  Rolls  Ser.,  1863. 
Oesterley  (H.),  ed.,  Gesta  Romanorum,  1872. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  25 

Oesterley  (H.),   ed.,  Schimpf  und  Ernst  Johannes  Pauli  (Bibl.  des 

Litt.  Ver.  in  Stuttgart,  Bd.  85). 
Paraldus  (Gulielmus),  Summa  Virtutum  ac  Vitiorum,  Basel,  1497. 
Paris  (Gaston),  ed..  Vie  de  Saint  Alexis  (Bibl.  de  I'Ecole  des  Hautes 

Etudes,  1872). 
Paris  (Gaston)  and  Pannier  (Leopold),  the  same  enlarged,  1887. 
Paris    (Gaston),   Wilham  de   Wadington,   Hist.   Litt.   de   la  France , 

XXVIII. ,  p.  179. 
Paris  (Paulin),  Manuscrits  Frangais. 
Pez  (Bernardus),   Ven.  Agnetis  Blannekin-"  Vita-'- Liber  de  Miraculis 

Sanctae---Mariae,  Vienna,  1731. 
Pilz  (Oskar),  Beitrdge  zur  Kenntniss  der  Altfranzosischen  Fabliaux^ 

1889. 
Roger  of  Wendover,    Chronica,   ed.    Hewlett,    Mast,  of  Rolls  Ser., 

1886-89. 
Ruteboeuf,  Oeuvres,  ed.  Jubinal,  1839. 
Ruteboeuf,  Gedichte,  ed.  Kraessner,  1885. 

Skeat  (W.  W.),  cf.  Wars  of  Alexander,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  1886. 
Steele  (R.),  ed.,  Secreta  Secretorum,  E.E.T.S.,  Ex.  Ser.,  1898. 
Stengel,  La  Cangun  de  Saint  Alexis,  1882. 
Symeon  of  Durham,    Opera    Omnia   (for   Vita  S.    Oswaldt),  ed.   T. 

Arnold,  Mast,  of  Rolls  Ser.,  1882. 
Thomas  Becket,  Materials  for  the  History  of  T.  B.,  ed.  J.  C.  Robert- 
son, Mast,  of  Rolls  Ser.,  1875-85. 
Thomas  Becket,  Thortias  Saga  Erkibyskups,  ed.  Magniisson,  Mast,  of 

Rolls  Ser.,  1875. 
Ulrich  (J.),  ed.  Gautier  de  Coincy,  Zeitschrift  fiir  roni.  Phil.,  VI., 

334- 

Vincentius  Bellovacensis,  Speculum  Quadruptex,  Douai,  1624.  (^Spec- 
ulum Morale  not  his,  however,  see  E.  Boutaric,  Revue  des  Ques- 
tions Historiques,  t.  XVII.,  p.  5.) 

Vitce.  Fatrum,  Rosweydus,  Ruffinus,  etc.,  fete.  {Migne  Fatr.  Curs. 
Lat.,  LXXIII). 

Vitas  Fatrum,  Caxton,  Westminster,  1495. 

William  of  Malmesbury,  Gesta  Fontificum  Anglorum,  ed.  Hamilton, 
Mast,  of  Rolls  Ser.,  1870. 

Wright  (Thomas),  A  Selection  of  Latin  Stories,  Percy  Soc,  1842. 


26 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


LIST   OF   UNEDITED  (WHOLLY  OR  IN    PART)  MSS. 
USED   IN  PREPARATION  OF  NOTES. 


MSS. 


MSS. 

Bibl.  Nat.  lat.       2333    A. 

15267. 

5268. 

5562. 

6845. 

6845  4.4. 

12593. 

14463. 

14464. 

15913. 

17491. 

18134. 

18168. 

Bibl.  Nat.  fran.       375. 

410   (anciens  fonds,  7018*), 

819   (anciens  fonds,  7208"^) 

834  (anciens  fonds,  7215^). 

Brit.  Mus.  Arundel  506. 

''      ''     Cott.  Cleop.  C.  10. 

'*      ''     Cott.  Cleop.  D.  9. 

"      ''       "      Jul.   D.  9. 

'*       *'     Hari.  2277. 

-       ''        -    [2316. 

'*      "     Add.  1 1 284. 

'*       ''        ''     26770. 

Ba 

lliol  College  240. 

NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  27 


TALES   AND    SOURCES 

(i)   Mary  Magdelayne  :   Biblical. 

(  2 )  The  Monk  who  returned  from  death  : 

The  officer  in  charge  of  the  infirmary  of  an  abbey  of  *' black 
monks  ' '  had  a  friend,  a  ' '  cloister  monk, ' '  who  was  strongly  attached 
to  him.  He  fell  mortally  sick,  and  during  a  visit  from  his  friend  he 
promised  that  if  he  died  he  would  return  to  tell  how  he  fared,  were  he 
permitted.  After  his  decease  the  friend  prayed  for  tidings  from  the 
dead.  At  length,  while  the  monk  was  sleeping,  his  fellow  came  back 
and  said  that  he  fared  well  through  the  help  of  the  Virgin,  without 
whose  aid  he  should  have  gone  to  hell.  The  other  marvelled  at  this, 
since  the  man  had  been  considered  holy  during  his  lifetime.  He  said 
in  reply  that  after  death  he  was  led  to  judgment  before  Christ  and,  as 
he  stood  trembling,  heard  devils  upbraid  him.  He  was  then  compelled 
to  read  the  Rule  of  St,  Benedict  and  to  answer  for  each  of  its  clauses. 
He  would  certainly  have  been  damned  but  for  the  intercession  of  Mary 
whom  he  had  loved  in  life.  She  besought  Christ  that  he  be  sent  to 
purgatory.  So  he  was  in  a  fair  way  to  be  cleansed  of  sin  but  still 
asked  his  friend  to  have  the  brothers  pray  for  his  soul. 

This  tale  belongs  to  a  group  in  which  spiritualism  and  the  worship 
of  the  Virgin  are  both  taught.  I  have  found  some  fifteen  stories  which 
obviously  belong  to  the  group,  though  no  one  reproduces  every  detail 
of  any  other,  nor  does  any  one  contain  all  the  characteristics  which 
mark  the  group.  This  family  can  be  separated,  howevet,  from  the 
great  body  of  stories  which  grew  up  in  the  twelfth  century  about  the 
cult  of  the  Virgin.  It  has  five  points  which  appear  in  various  com- 
binations through  all  the  members  of  the  group,  (i)  An  agreement 
between  two  friends  (monks  or  clerks)  that  the  one  who  dies  first  shall 
appear  to  the  survivor  ;  (2)  a  return  from  death  ;  (3)  a  message  from 
the  devil ;  (4)  a  token  or  mark  given  the  living  man  either  by  friend 
or  devil ;  and  ( 5  )  the  news  of  the  damnation  of  the  dead  or  his  salva- 
tion. Beside  these  general  traits,  there  are,  of  course,  numerous  minor 
characteristics  which  vary  widely  in  the  individual  tales  and  which 
need  not  be  considered  in  grouping  the  family  as  a  whole. 


28  G.    H.    GEROULD 

On  the  basis  of  this  analysis  the  stories  which  I  have  found  arrange 
themselves  into  seven  sub-families,  each  composed  of  from  one  to  six 
members.  I  will  indicate  these  sub-families  by  the  first  seven  letters 
of  the  alphabet  and  under  them  for  convenience  treat  each  story  as  it 
falls  into  place. 

A.  This  group  is  represented  only  by  the  version  of  the  Met.  Horn. 
Of  the  five  points  enumerated  it  has  nos.  (i),  (2),  (5). 

B.  This  group  has  four  representatives,  a  story  in  the  Speculu?fi 
Historiale  by  Vincent  de  Beauvais,  lib.  xxv.  cap.  89  ;  another  in 
Bozon's  Contes  Moralises ,  no.  93  (ed.  Smith  and  Meyer,  p.  115); 
a  third  in  the  collection  improperly  ascribed  to  Jacques  de  Vitry  (see 
Crane,  Jacques  de  Vitry,  p.  L. )  which  is  contained  in  MS.  Bibl.  Nat. 
lat.  18134,  no.  132,  fol.  237(a)  ;  and  finally  one  in  MS.  Bibl.  Nat. 
lat.  15913,  fol.  141(a). 

The  story  of  Vincent  de  Beauvais,  which  is  the  original  of  Bozon's 
tale  according  to  M.  Meyer  (Bozon,  p.  269)  has,  however,  less  resem- 
blance to  it  than  the  versions  of  MS.  lat.  181 34,  and  MS.  lat.  15913. 
It  omits  one  trait  which  the  others  have,  viz.,  the  message  from  the 
devil.  The  story  is  this :  Two  clerks  at  Nantes  agree  that  the  one 
who  dies  first  shall  appear  to  the  survivor.  Soon  after  one  of  them 
sickens,  dies,  and  later  appears  to  his  fellow  saying  that  he  is  eternally 
damned  and  showing  in  proof  of  it  his  hand  on  which  was  written 
an  infernal  letter.  This  appears  under  the  rubric  ' '  Guillelmus  in 
chronicis ' '  and  is  said  to  have  taken  place  in  the  reign  of  William 
Rufus. 

The  MS.  versions  (both  of  the  XIII.  century)  give  no  date  for  the 
legend  but  place  it  ' '  in  quadam  civitate  britannie  que  nannetis  voca- 
tur."  Here  the  clerks  promise  to  return  on  the  thirtieth  day  after 
death.  The  ghost  appears  as  agreed  and  shows  his  friend  his  hand  on 
which  is  written  a  letter  of  salutation  from  Satan  to  the  prelates  thank- 
ing them  that  they  let  their  people  perish.  The  version  of  Bozon  is 
like  these  two  except  that  it  does  not  state  the  place  where  the  event 
occurred,  nor  the  time  after  death  of  the  apparition.  In  none  of  these 
three  is  the  damnation  of  the  clerk  expressly  stated. 

This  group  has,  then,  all  the  five  chief  points  of  the  story,  but  no 
one  member  has  them  all. 

C.  This  group  has  four  representatives,  a  story  in  the  Bonum  Uni- 
versale de  Apibus  by  Cantipratanus  (ti 260-1 280),  I.  20,  8;  another 
in  a  sermon  by  Eude  de  Cheriton  ( ist  part  of  XIII.  century)  for  Dom. 
I.  post  Oct.  Pasche  (printed  by  Meyer,  p.  269);  zxiO\}ciQx\n  Libro  de  los 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  2^ 

EnxemploSy  CXXV.    (analyzed  by  Crane,  Jacques  de  Vitry^  p.   135); 
and  finally  one  in  the  Exempla  of  Jacques  de  Vitry  (ed.  Crane,  no. 

II.,  p.  I). 

The  story  is  given  with  the  fullest  detail  in  Cantipratanus,  A  clerk, 
disturbed  at  having  to  preach  before  a  synod  of  distinguished  bishops, 
is  interviewed  by  the  devil,  who  makes  a  mark  on  his  face  for  a  token 
and  tells  him  to  preach  thus:  ''Principes  infernalium  tenebrarum 
principes  ecclesiae  salutant,  etc. ' '  The  clerk  did  so  and  was  believed 
on  account  of  the  token.  The  versions  of  Eude  de  Cheriton  and  of 
the  Libra  de  los  Enxeniplos  are  as  follows :  The  devil  in  form  of  a 
man  sent  a  message  to  an  archbishop  by  a  layman  (the  customary 
letter)  and  as  a  token  struck  the  man  on  his  face.  The  devil's  mark 
is  only  removed  when  the  archbishop  sprinkles  it  with  holy  water. 
Jacques  de  Vitry' s  version  is  simpler.  The  demon  wrote  to  certain 
negligent  prelates  in  Sicily  a  letter  ( the  customary  letter) . 

This  group  contains  the  story  in  its  simplest  form.  Of  the  five 
points  it  has  only  (3)  and  (4)  as  a  group,  and  one  member  (Jacques 
de  Vitry)  has  only  (3).  Perhaps  through  a  typographical  error  Pro- 
fessor Crane  says  on  p.  cxii  of  his  introduction  that  no.  93  of  Bozon 
corresponds  to  no.  I.  of  his  Jacques  de  Vitry  collection.  He  means, 
of  course,  no.  II.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  the  story  in  Bozon  belongs 
to  a  different  group. 

D.  Of  this  subdivision  there  is  but  one  representative,  Caesar  von 
Heisterbach  (Cistercian  of  the  XIII.  century)  Dialogus  Miraculorunty 
dist.  I.  cap.  XXXII.  (ed.  Strange,  I.,  p.  39).  Two  students  of  the 
black  art  at  Toletus  agree,  when  one  is  dying,  that  he  shall  appear  to 
the  survivor  twenty  days  after  death.  On  the  appointed  day  the 
friend  sat  in  a  church  reading  psalms  before  the  image  of  Mary  for  the 
dead  man's  soul.  The  latter  appeared,  told  his  friend  that  he  himself 
was  damned,  and  counselled  him  to  enter  the  Cistercian  order  whence 
fewest  souls  come  to  hell. 

Here  we  have  points  (i),  (2)  and  (5),  though  they  are  somewhat 
obscured  by  the  different  dressing  of  the  tale. 

E.  This  group  has  two  representatives,  one  of  which  is  repeated 
with  little  variation  in  a  great  number  of  medieval  collections.  This 
is  the  story  of  the  dissolute  monk  at  Pavia,  found  in  Mielot,  Miracles 
de  Nostre  Dame,  no.  11  (ed.  Roxb.  Club,  p.  11),  Etienne  de  Bour- 
bon (^Anecdotes  d' Etienne  de  Bourbon,  ed.  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  p. 
99),  MS.  Balliol  240  (no.  25),  etc.  The  other  representative  is  found 
in  Scala  Celi  of  Johannes  Junior,  De predicatore,  fol.  139(a). 


30 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


The  former  story  is  this :  A  dissolute  monk  at  Pavia  died,  and  a 
year  after  death  appeared  to  his  friend  the  sacristan,  teUing  him  that 
he  had  been  in  torment  but  was  now  released,  because  of  his  devotion 
to  the  Virgin,  and  that  he  was  going  to  heaven.  It  will  be  seen  that 
this  has  all  the  essential  features  of  the  Met.  Horn,  story,  barring  the 
agreement  before  death. 

The  latter  tale  (that  of  Scala  Cell )  is  slightly  different.  A  preacher 
appeared  to  a  companion  after  death  and  told  him  that  he  had  been 
seized  by  two  sorts  of  devils  but  had  been  released  by  Jesus  Christ. 
This  is  referred  to  Caesar,  but  is  not  the  story  referred  to  von  Heister- 
bach  under  D. 

This  subdivision  has  only  characteristics  (  2  )  and  (  5  ) . 

F.  This  subdivision  has  two  representatives,  from  Le  Manuel  des 
Pechiez  by  William  of  Wadington  and  from  the  translation  of  that 
treatise  by  Robert  of  Brunne,  Handlyng  Synne  (ed.  Furnivall,  p. 
72).  A  knight  who  has  robbed  a  poor  man  of  a  rich  cloth  dies. 
After  death  he  appears  to  a  friend  and  asks  him  to  relieve  him  of  the 
pain  of  the  cloth,  which  lies  upon  him  like  a  mountain.  The  friend 
proposes  several  priests  who  will  '■  sing '  him  out  of  pain,  but  the 
ghost  says  that  all  these  are  unclean.  At  last  the  friend  suggests  a 
good  priest,  and  the  dead  man  agrees.  He  marks  the  thigh  of  his 
friend  so  that  the  bone  shows  but  does  not  hurt  him.  The  living 
friend  afterwards  goes  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land. 

With  all  its  curious  dress  this  story  has  plainly  points  (2)  and  (4). 
Again  as  in  A  and  B  the  token  is  given  by  the  dead  man  rather  than 
by  a  devil. 

G.  There  is  but  one  representative  of  this  subdivision.  It  occurs 
in  Herolt,  Sermones  de  Tempore,  Sermo  160.  A  friend  promises  a 
sick  man  to  say  a  mass  for  his  soul  immediately  after  he  dies.  The 
friend  does  so,  but  the  dead  appears  reproaching  him  with  delaying 
twenty  years.  The  friend  tells  the  ghost  that  his  body  is  not  yet 
buried,  so  they  conclude  that  the  pains  of  purgatory  are  severe.  This 
curious  tale,  which  is  the  converse  of  that  of  Monk  Felix  (see  no.  29) 
has  characteristics  (i)  and  (2),  though  the  agreement  before  death  is 
of  an  unusual  kind  and  the  return  from  death  for  a  different  pur- 
pose. 

On  account  of  the  great  freedom  with  which  this  family  of  stories 
has  been  treated  it  is  impossible  to  tell  whence  our  author  took  his 
version.  A  probable  conjecture  would  be  that  he  found  it  in  some 
collection  of  Mary  legends,  the  compiler  of  which  had  changed  the 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  3I 

ending  of  the  story  as  told  in  B  (e.  g.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  18134)  to 
suit  the  nature  of  his  book. 

The  following  table  shows  the  relationship  of  the  various  subdivisions  : 

Groups  which  have  : 


i)  Agreement 

(2)  Appearance 

(3)  Message    (4)  Token 

given 

(5) 

Damnation 

before  death. 

after  death. 

from  devil.       by  ghost  or 

devil. 

or 

salvation 
of  dead. 

A 

A 

A 

B 

B 

B                          B 
C                          C 

B 

D 

D 
E 
F 

F 

D 
E 

G 

G 

(3)  Death  of  John  Baptist :   Biblical. 

(4)  The  Pilgrim  to  St.  James : 

A  certain  man,  on  the  day  when  he  was  going  to  set  out  on  a  pil- 
grimage to  St.  James,  made  a  feast  to  his  relatives  and  friends.  In 
the  gaiety  of  the  occasion  he  fell  into  deadly  sin  with  a  woman  and 
forthwith  went  his  way.  The  fiend,  who  had  caused  him  to  sin,  met 
him  in  the  likeness  of  St.  James  and  asked  where  he  was  going.  He 
told  him.  The  devil  said:  ^'lame  saynt  Jame  }>t  spekes  wi]>  ])e 
.  .  .  })i  uiage  es  noyt  worthe  a  leke."  He  further  commanded  the 
pilgrim  to  castrate  and  slay  himself  if  he  wished  to  go  to  heaven. 
When  this  was  done,  the  fiend  took  the  soul  and  made  off  toward  hell 
but  was  met  by  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  James.  The  latter  demanded 
the  soul  on  the  ground  that  the  pilgrim  thought  he  was  serving  him  in 
his  crime.  The  dispute  was  by  the  advice  of  Peter  taken  before  Mary 
for  arbitration.  She  decided  that  it  was  only  just  that  the  man  return 
to  life  to  cleanse  his  sins  through  penance.  To  this  the  devil  sorrow- 
fully agreed,  so  the  man  revived,  became  a  monk,  and  a  devout  ser- 
vant of  Our  Lady.  He  carried  the  marks  of  his  deed  till  he  died. 
This  story  he  told  his  abbot.     His  name  was  Gerard. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  wide-spread  legends  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It 
is  found  with  slight  variations  in  almost  innumerable  collections  of  Mary 
legends,  of  exempla,  and  of  pious  treatises.  It  is  usually  referred  to 
St.  Hugh,  Abbot  of  Cluny,  who  lived  from  1023  to  1108.  Unfortu- 
nately none  of  his  writings  are  extant  save  a  few  letters.     Whether  we 


32 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


must  believe  that  this  Hugo  first  told  the  story  seems  somewhat  doubt- 
ful in  view  of  the  fact  that  a  very  similar  tale  is  in  many  cases  told 
together  with  it,  but  attributed  to  Hugh  of  St.  Victor.  Yet  that  it 
came  into  popular  notice  through  Hugh  of  Cluny  admits  of  little  doubt. 
All  things  considered,  one  can  safely  say  that  the  legend  arose  in  the 
south  of  France.  Though  it  was  well  known  in  England  through  ec- 
clesiastical writings  it  continued  to  be  peculiarly  a  French  legend. 
In  France  it  was  immensely  popular,  as  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  scenes 
from  it  were  carved  on  the  outside  of  several  cathedrals.  The  south 
portal  of  Notre-Dame  de  Paris  and  the  cathedral  at  Soissons  are  exam- 
ples of  this. 

The  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  St.  James  at  Santiago  de  Compostella 
in  Galicia  was  a  very  popular  one,  as  is  witnessed  by  many  references 
in  medieval  writings.  See  the  reference  in  Chaucer's  Prologue,  v. 
465,  and  in  Langland's  Piers  Plowman  (ed.  Skeat,  C.  Pass.  I.  v.  48). 
The  sign  of  the  pilgrimage  was  a  scallop-shell  (Chamber's  j9^^>^  of  Days, 
I.,  338),  just  as  the  cross  was  the  sign  of  the  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy 
Land.  There  are  several  other  legends  related  of  pilgrims  to 
this   shrine. 

The  attention  of  scholars  was  drawn  to  the  legend  by  publication  of 
an  abstract  in  the  collection  of  Le  Grand  d' Aussy  (^Fabliaux  et  Contes, 
vol.  v.,  p.  58).  For  the  literature  of  the  subject  the  work  of  Mussafia 
is  invaluable,  especially  for  the  MS.  versions.  See  Studien  zu  den 
mittelalt.  Marienlegenden,  I.,  p.  10.  He  has,  however,  made  no 
general  classification,  nor  has  he  examined  all  the  versions  which  he 
cites.  I  have  examined  about  twenty-five  examples  of  the  legend, 
several  of  which  were  unknown  to  him.  I  shall  class  them  for  con- 
venience under  the  following  divisions. 

A.  Among  the  works  formerly  attributed  to  Anselm  of  Canterbury 
vs,  z.  Miraculum  Grande  SancH  Jacob  (JAigxie,  Pair.  Curs.  Lat.,  CLIX., 
col.  537).  As  a  version  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  probably  the 
representative  of  the  group  which  stands  nearest  the  original  form  it 
deserves  careful  analysis.  A  young  tailor  of  Lyons  (Ludunensis) 
named  Giraldus,  the  son  of  a  widow  and  himself  a  bachelor,  planned 
to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  St.  James.  Before  his  departure  he  made  a 
feast  and  lay  with  a  woman.  None  the  less  he  set  out  with  two  com- 
panions. They  overtook  a  mendicant  pilgrim  who  joined  them. 
After  a  few  days  the  devil  '^  in  humana  forma  satis  honesta,"  appeared 
to  Giraldus  and  reproached  him  that  he  had  set  out  without  confes- 
sion.    The  youth  determined  to  go  back,  when  the  devil  appeared 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  33 

again  as  St.  James  and  coimselled  him  to  unsex  himself.  Giraldus 
argued  that  if  he  did  so  he  must  kill  himself  also.  To  this  the  devil 
agreed,  and  ironically  added  that  he  would  be  at  hand  with  his  angels 
to  conduct  the  soul  to  paradise.  That  night,  while  his  companions 
slept,  the  youth  mutilated  and  stabbed  himself.  His  friends  awoke 
and  fled,  for  fear  of  being  accused  of  murder.  While  the  people  of 
the  inn  were  preparing  the  body  for  burial  the  dead  man  revived  and 
told  his  tale  as  in  the  Met.  Horn,  except  that  Mary  is  said  to  have  been 
seated  over  St.  Peter's  at  Rome.  After  resting  for  three  days  the 
pilgrim  proceeded  on  his  way,  met  his  companions,  and  told  them  the 
story.  They  reported  it  at  his  home.  On  his  return  Hugh  of  Cluny  and 
many  others  saw  him  with  all  the  signs  of  his  experience  about  him. 
This  version  is  treated  by  Mussafia,  Studien  zu  mittletalt.  Marienlegen- 
den,  I.,  p.  17,  who  states  that  it  is  found  in  *'Sermo  de  conceptione 
B.  M."  by  Anselm.  There  is  a  story  of  a  pilgrim  in  that  sermon,  but 
it  is  altogether  independent  of  this. 

Another  very  early  version  of  the  legend  is  that  contained  in  MS. 
Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  14464  as  no.  5  of  a  collection  of  miracles  attributed  to 
Calixtus.  The  authenticity  of  this  attribution  to  Calixtus  II.  has  been 
disproved  like  that  to  Anselm  in  the  version  above.  See  Hist.  litt.  de 
la  Ff-ance,  X.,  p.  532.  Yet  as  Calixtus  died  in  11 24,  and  the  version 
attributed  to  him  was  certainly  written  by  some  contemporary  of  his, 
it  must  be  nearly  of  the  same  period  as  St.  Hugh  of  Cluny.  It  does 
not  greatly  differ  from  the  spurious  Anselm.  The  youth  was  accus- 
tomed to  go  each  year  to  the  shrine  of  St.  James.  The  three  pilgrims 
took  with  them  an  ass,  with  which  the  friends  made  off  after  the  sui- 
cide. The  dispute  between  the  apostles  and  the  devil  is  given  in  great 
detail  as  well  as  the  trial  before  the  Virgin.  She  is  curiously  described 
as  of  medium  height  and  fair  complexion.  A  translation  of  this  ver- 
sion is  found  in  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  fran.  834,  fol.  13(a).  The  MS.  is  of 
the  late  13th  or  early  14th  cent.,  but  the  translation  was  first  made  at 
Beauvais  in  1212,  at  the  command  of  Comtesse  Yolent  de  Saint^Pol, 
by  a  certain  Pierre  in  the  time  of  '^Phillipe  le  puissant  vesque  de 
beauvais"  (cf.  P.  Paris,  Manuscrits  fran^ats,  VI.,  p.  393).  It  is 
curious  that  this  translatioA  should  bear  the  title  (Translation  de 
Saint-Jacques)  of  one  of  the  four  supposedly  spurious  sermons  of 
Calixtus  (see  Migne,  Fatr.  Curs.  Lat,  CLXIII.,  col.  1365,  also  Hist. 
litt.  above  cited)  and  at  the  same  time  should  contain  the  miracles  (in 
translation)  of  the  collection  contained  in  MS.  lat.  14464. 


34 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


Vincent  of  Beauvais,  who  made  his  compilation  about  the  middle  of 
the  13th  cent.,  apparently  took  his  version  of  the  legend  from  this  so- 
called  Calixtus,  though  he  refers  only  to  St.  Hugh.  The  only  varia- 
tion which  he  makes  is  that  he  does  not  name  the  pilgrim. 

Only  a  little  later  in  date  is  the  version  of  Jacobus  Voragine, 
Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  XCIX.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  427),  who  gives  the 
story  immediately  after  a  similar  one  attributed  to  Hugh  of  St.  Victor, 
of  which  I  shall  speak  later.  This  version  belongs  with  the  pseudo- 
Calixtus  and  the  Vincentius.  The  trade  of  the  pilgrim  is  not  men- 
tioned, nor  the  fact  that  he  supported  his  widowed  mother.  As  in 
Vincent  he  is  not  named.  The  story  occurs  in  the  French  translation 
made  at  the  end  of  that  century  by  Jean  de  Vignay,  fol.  1 26  (a) .  It  is  also 
found  in  Caxton's  Golden  Legend,  which  was  translated  from  de  Vignay. 
In  the  Alphab.  Narr.  of  fitienne  de  Besangon,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat. 
1 59 1 3,  fol.  43(a),  the  stories  attributed  to  Hugh  of  St.  Victor  and 
Hugh  of  Cluny  are  given  in  the  same  order  as  by  Voragine.  The 
legend  of  the  pilgrim  is  here  told  very  briefly,  but  appears  to  be  from 
the  same  source,  if  not  from  Voragine  himself.  It  makes  this  change 
however  in  regard  to  the  sin.  The  pilgrim  is  spoken  of  as  '*  in  itinere 
fornicanti." 

B.  This  group  is  well  represented  by  a  version  in  MS.  Bibl.  Nat. 
lat.  18 1 34,  fol.  88(b),  Libellum  de  Beata  Virgine  Maria,  no.  132. 
Giraldus,  a  monk  of  Cluny,  according  to  St.  Hugh,  while  still  a  lay- 
man prepared  to  make  the  pilgrimage  to  St.  James.  Before  departure 
he  lay  with  his  mistress,  then  set  out  accompanied  by  his  friends. 
When  he  had  gone  a  little  way  he  was  met  by  the  devil.  The  rest  of 
the  events  follow  the  order  in  Met.  Horn.,  except  that  the  judgment 
seat  of  the  Virgin  was  over  St.  Peter's. 

The  legend  is  found  with  only  slight  verbal  difference  from  the 
above  in  many  other  Miracula  Virginis.  The  MSS.  in  the  following 
list  are  of  the  12th  and  the  13th  centuries,  and  vary  little  in  form  of 
this  legend  which  they  give. 

fol.  13(b),  Mir.  Vir. 

fol.  30(a),      ''       " 

fol.  54(b),     -       - 

fol.  39(a),     ^'       '' 

fol.  31(b). 

fol.  22(b),      ''       ''     no.  26. 

fol.  84(b). 

fol.  28(a),  no.  30. 


^S.  B] 

bl 

Nat. 

lat.  14463, 

"      5267, 

''    17491, 
''      2333A, 
-   5268, 

"    18168, 

''      5562, 

no. 

18. 

no. 

8,  p. 

no. 

6,  p. 

iii. 

no. 

15,  P- 

ii. 

NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  35 

MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Cott.  Cleop.'  C  lo,  fol.  120(b),  lib.  II.  no.  8. 

''       "        ''     Arundel  346,  fol.  62(a),  no.  7. 

*'     Balliol  College  240,  no.  21. 
It  appeared  in  this  form  as  no.  61  in  the  fifteenth  century  prose 
translation,  contained  by  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  fran.  410,  fol.  34(a). 

C.  There  is  a  prolix  version  in  rhymed  Latin  verse,  written  by 
Gaiferius  Casinensis  about  1060.  Printed  by  Migne,  Fatr.  Curs.  Lai. 
CXLVIL,  col.  1285.  A  simple  youth — not  named — of  Lyons  fell 
into  sin  on  the  way  to  St.  James,  was  easily  deluded,  etc.  The  com- 
panions are  barely  mentioned.  This  version  seems  to  have  an  inde- 
pendent origin. 

D.  Another  early  version  which  stands  by  itself  is  that  of  Guibert 
de  Nogent  (tii24),  £>e  Vita  Sua,  lib.  III.,  cap.  18  (ed.  Luc 
d' Archery,  p.  521,  also  printed  by  Poquet,  Miracles  de  la  Sainte 
Vierge,  p.  290).  A  young  man,  not  named,  had  been  living  in  sin 
with  a  woman.  Afterwards  he  started  on  a  pilgrimage  to  St.  James 
but  unfortunately  carried  with  him  the  girdle  of  the  woman.  He  was 
met  by  the  devil  in  disguise,  and  commanded  to  mutilate  and  kill  him- 
self. While  his  companions  pray  beside  the  corpse  at  the  inn  he  re- 
vives and  tells  the  usual  story.  The  author  says  that  he  had  the  tale 
from  an  old  monk  Joffredus  {Samurensis  .  .  .  castri  et  aliorutn  c astro- 
rum  in  Burgundia  dominus  fuit) ,  who  said  that  he  had  it  from  the 
man  himself. 

E.  A  slightly  different  version  is  the  metrical  one  of  Gautier  de 
Coincy  who  died  before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Printed 
by  Poquet,  p.  292,  and  by  Meon,  Nouveau  Recueil,  p.  147,  though 
the  latter  gives  neither  author  nor  manuscript,  St.  ''Hue  de  Clingni  " 
is  the  authority.  A  rich  man  of  Bourgogne,  warmed  by  wine,  sinned 
with  a  woman.  He  was  disconcerted,  but  after  mass  next  morning 
started  on  a  pilgrimage  to  St.  James.  He  is  represented  as  simple 
and  easily  deluded,  like  the  youth  in  C.  Further  course  of  events  as 
in  Met.  Horn. 

F.  The  story  attributed  to  Hugh  of  St.  Victor,  above  referred  to,  is 
this.  A  pilgrim  is  persuaded  by  the  devil  in  the  likeness  of  St.  James 
to  kill  himself  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  heavenly  bliss.  The  man  at 
whose  house  he  was  staying  is  accused  of  murder  but  saved  by  the  pil- 
grim's resurrection.  The  latter  relates  that  he  was  snatched  from  the 
•devil  by  St.   James  who  prevailed  upon  God  to  send   him  back  to 

*  Cited  by  Mussafia  as  Cleop.  20. 


36 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


earth.  The  pilgrim  is  not  named,  and  there  is  no  mutilation.  This 
occurs  in  Legenda  Aurea,  cap  XCIX.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  427),  and  in 
Alphabeturn  Narrationum,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  15913,  fol.  43(a)- 
With  a  slight  variation  it  is  also  found  in  the  14th  century,  Scala  Cell, 
by  Johannes  Junior,  De  peregrinatione,  fol.  136(a).  The  pilgrim 
kills  himself,  at  the  devil's  instigation,  to  escape  the  perils  of  the 
world.  There  is  no  reference  to  suspicions  attaching  to  the  host. 
The  pilgrim  revives  among  his  weeping  companions. 

The  place  of  the  Met.  Horn,  version  among  these  groups  seems  to 
be  with  B.  At  first  sight  it  would  be  natural  to  say  that  our  author 
found  the  legend  in  Voragine,  where  a  large  number  of  his  tales  are 
also  told,  but  internal  evidence  points  to  the  former  view.  Gerard 
seems  to  be  a  stock  name  for  pilgrims.  It  occurs  again  in  story  of  a 
pilgrim  to  St.  Thomas  found  in  Alph.  Narr.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat. 
1 5913,  fol.  68(b),  and  in   Scala  Cell,  fol.  136(b). 

(5)  Saint  Martin  and  the  Devil  : 

In  the  life  of  St.  Martin  it  is  written  that  while  he  was  at  prayer  the 
fiend  came  to  him  in  the  form  of  a  king.  The  devil  said  that  he  was 
Christ  and  urged  the  Saint  to  worship  him.  But  Martin  through 
grace  knew  that  it  was  the  fiend  and  meekly  answered  that  not  till 
death  should  he  see  the  Lord.  At  this  meek  reply  the  devil  disappeared 
in  smoke. 

The  original  of  this  legeiid  is  found  in  the  life  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours 
by  Sulpicius  Severus,  lib.  L,  par.  24  (Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Latr.,  XX., 
col.  174).  The  ending  differs  from  our  version.  '^Non  se,  inquit, 
Jesus  Dominus  purpuratum  et  diademate  renitentem  venturum  esse 
prsedixit.  Ego  Christum,  nisi  in  eo  habitu  formaque  qua  passus  est,  nisi 
stigmata  prseferentem,  venisse  non  credam. ' '  Severus  says  that  Martin 
told  him  about  this  ! 

^Ifric  tells  the  story  in  his  life  of  St.  Martin.  See  yElfric's  Lives 
of  Saints,  ed.  Skeat,  hom.  XXXI.  cap.  XXV.,  11. ,  p.  266. 

(6)  St.  Anthony  and  the  Snares: 

St.  Anthony  was  so  meek  that  he  vanquished  the  fiends.  Once  he  saw 
the  earth  spread  with  snares  and  traps  wherewith  were  baited  men's 
souls.  He  asked  God  what  thing  was  safe  from  these  nets  and  was 
told  '/mekenes  allane." 

This  anecdote  comes  from  the  Vitae  Fatrtim,  lib.  III.  or  Verba 
Seniorum,  by  Ruffinus  (Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIIL,  col.  785). 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  37 

The  voice  of  God  said  to  Anthony:  **Humilitas  sola  pertransit, 
Antoni,  quam  niillo  modo  valent  superbi  contingere."  The  in- 
cident is  not  given  in  the  Vi^a  S.  Anthoni  by  St.  Athanasius  of 
Alexandra. 

It  is  told  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.^  lib.  XIV.,  cap.  14; 
by  Paraldus,  the  Dominican,  in  his  Summa  Virtutum  ac  Vittoru?n,  lib. 
I.  (ed.  Bale,  i497>  ^1-  101(a))  ;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  following 
century  (XIV.)  by  Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Celi^  De  Humilitate  (ed. 
Ulm,  1483,  fol.  92(b)).  Jean  de  Vignay  gives  it  in  his  Legende 
Doree  (ed.  Verard,  1493,  fol.  34(a)),  but  it  does  not  appear  in  the 
modern  editions  of  his  original,  Voragine. 

There  seems  to  be  no  way  to  decide  whence  our  author  took  the 
legend.  Indisputably  he  had  access  to  the  Vitae  Patrum^  and  prob- 
ably he  knew  Vincent  of  Beauvais. 

(7)   St.  Machary: 

One  day  the  fiend  met  Machary  and  said  that  he  was  unable  to 
strike  him  with  sin  because,  though  he  exceeded  the  hermit  in  pen- 
ance, fasting,  and  watching,  the  latter  surpassed  him  in  meekness. 
Machary  lived  in  a  hermitage  near  a  great  city,  whence  he  had  fled, 
and  was  served  by  another  hermit.  He  was  accustomed -to  go  into  the 
city  to  sell  his  handiwork.  A  citizen's  daughter  being  with  child  by  a 
clerk  accused  the  hermit  in  order  to  shield  her  lover.  Her  friends  beat 
Machary  about  the  market-place,  and  only  released  him  on  the  surety- 
ship of  his  friend.  So  he  returned  to  his  cell  and  worked  hard  at  his 
craft  in  order  to  send  the  wench  money.  At  length,  when  the  time 
of  her  confinement  came,  she  was  not  released  from  travail  till  she  had 
confessed  the  truth.     But  Machary  fled  from  the  praise  accorded  him. 

This  story — really  two  illustrations  of  St.  Machary's  humility — comes 
from  the  Vitae  Patrum.  It  is  printed  twice  by  Migne  in  its  double 
form,  once  in  lib.  III.  or  Verba  Seniorum  by  Ruffinus,  and  again  in 
lib.  v.,  libellus  XV.  (^Migne  Patrol.  Cur.  Lat.,  LXXXIIL,  col.  778 
and  col.  958).  Both  these  versions  differ  from  that  of  Met.  Horn. 
in  making  Macharius  tell  the  story  himself.  They  also  explain  the 
presence  of  the  saint's  attendant  by  saying  that  he  was  a  layman  of 
religious  life ;  and  they  differ  from  the  Met.  Horn,  version  in  the  form 
of  punishment  which  the  saint  suffered.  John  Herolt,  the  Dominican 
writer  who  lived  in  the  first  half  of  the  XV.  century,  prints  the 
version  of  Ruffinus  word  for  word  in  his  Promptiiarium  Exemplorumy 
P,  ex.  6. 


38 


H.    GEROULD 


I  have  found  no  English  version  except  that  of  Caxton  in  his  trans- 
lation, Vitas  Patruni.  This  follows  the  Latin  closely,  though  trans- 
lated out  of  French.      (Caxton,  Vitas  Patrum,  io\.  195.) 

The  first  part  appears  by  itself  in  several  compilations  :  Vincent  of 
Beauvais  (f  1264)  gives  it  in  his  Speculum  Historiale,  lib.  XIV.,  cap. 
18;  Paraldus  in  his  Summa  Virtutum  ac  Vitiorum,  lib.  I.,  fol.  161(a); 
Herolt  in  the  Prompt.  Exemp.  H,  ex.  7  ;  Jacques  de  Voragine  in  Le- 
genda  Aurea,  cap.  XVIII.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  100);  Odo  de  Ceritona  in 
Parabolae,  Dom.  I.  post  Oct.  Pasche  (ed.  Hervieux,  Fabulistes  Latins^ 
tome  IV.,  p.  289).  In  Caxton' s  Vitas  Patrum,  fol.  93,  it  is  again 
referred  to  under  the  life  of  St.  Jerome. 

(8)  The  Archbishop  and  the  Nun : 

A  certain  archbishop  had  jurisdiction  over  a  nunnery  situate  five 
miles  from  his  seat.  Thither  the  nuns  came,  according  to  custom,  to 
take  the  veil.  On  one  such  occasion,  as  he  sang  the  mass,  he  cast  his 
eye  on  a  maiden  and  lusted  for  her.  When  the  nuns  were  gone  he 
could  neither  eat  nor  sleep,  but  sent  letters  to  the  abbess,  summoning 
her  to  him  on  pretence  of  business.  He  told  her  that  she  must  send 
him  the  nun  who  was  there  the  day  before.  She  was  horrified  at  his 
request,  but  was  under  obligations  to  him  for  her  position  and  fearful 
of  his  displeasure.  So  she  acceded  and  persuaded  the  nun  to  give  her 
body  up  for  the  good  of  the  convent.  (Here  follows  a  long  moraliz- 
ing interlude. )  The  bishop  soon  repented,  lamented  at  great  length, 
did  secret  penance,  and  refused  to  see  his  people.  At  length  a  mob 
threatened  to  break  down  the  palace  doors  if  he  did  not  appear.  So 
he  went  out  and  spoke  with  them,  and  was  compelled  by  his  friends 
to  eat  and  drink.  Yet  he  was  still  uncleansed  and  would  not  perform 
his  offices.  Finally  he  promised  to  sing  the  mass  on  a  great  day,  but 
when  the  day  came  he  began  to  preach  to  the  great  congregation  in- 
stead and  told  all  his  sins,  saying  that  he  would  no  longer  be  bishop. 
He  threw  off  his  robes  and  ran  out  from  the  church.  Soon  he  met  a 
woman  carrying  an  infant.  The  child  spoke  to  him  through  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  bade  him  turn  back,  for  his  sins  were  forgiven.  Yet  he  ran 
on,  disbelieving  the  words  of  the  child.  Then  he  met  an  angel  who 
commanded  him  to  return  and  sing  the  mass.  So  he  went  back  and 
became  a  holy  man. 

(I  have  found  no  original  for  this  story.) 

(9)  The  Three  Kings  :   Biblical. 


NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  39 

(10)  St.  John  and  the  Boy: 

When  holy  church  was  new  St.  John  was  busy  ordaining  priests  and 
clerks  and  bishops.  Once  when  he  came  to  visit  a  church  he  found  a 
fair  boy,  but  untrained  and  wild,  whom  he  took  to  the  bishop  to  be 
cared  for.  The  bishop  baptized  and  trained  the  boy,  who  nevertheless 
fell  among  bad  companions  and  became  the  chief  of  a  band  of  robbers 
underwood.  Then  St.  John  came  again  and  asked  the  bishop  for  his 
treasure.  He  was  grieved  at  what  he  learned  and  after  reproaching 
the  bishop  set  out  to  seek  the  youth.  The  robbers  started  toward  St. 
John  as  he  drew  near  their  retreat,  but  their  chief  fled  in  shame. 
John  pursued  him  calling,  and  when  he  overtook  him  he  promised  him 
forgiveness  for  his  sins.  The  man  repented  and  became  so  good  that 
**all  men  had  grete  ioye  of  hyme." 

This  legend  is  found  in  the  Liber  quis  dives  salvetur,  by  Clement  of 
Alexandria  (Migne,  Fair.  Curs.  Grceca,  IX.,  col.  647),  where  it  occurs 
in  a  life  of  St.  John  the  Apostle.  The  events  are  said  to  have  hap- 
pened after  the  return  of  St.  John  from  Patmos.  The  name  of  the 
city  is  given  as  Ephesus  which  gives  a  clue  to  the  rise  of  the  legend. 
There  was  another  John,  bishop  of  Ephesus  in  the  third  century,  who 
has  often  been  confused,  as  in  this  tale,  with  the  apostle  of  that  name. 
Undoubtedly  this  is  an  anecdote  from  his  life.  Clement's  mistake  was 
perpetuated  by  several  writers.  Vincent  of  Beauvais  gives  the  legend 
in  the  same  form,  Speculwn  Historiale,  lib.  X.,  cap.  42,  referring  it  to 
Clemens  Alexandrinus  and  to  Eusebius.  The  reference  to  the  latter  I 
have  been  unable  to  verify,  as  the  legend  does  not  seem  to  exist  in  the 
printed  works  of  any  Eusebius.  The  legend  occurs  again  in  Speculum 
Morale  (usually  printed  as  the  work  of  Vincent),  lib.  I.,  dist.  lo, 
pars.  4,  which  refers  it  to  Historia  Ecclesiastica^  lib.  III.,  cap.  23. 
Presumably  our  author  found  the  legenji  in  the  slightly  later  compila- 
tion Legenda  Aurea,  by  Jacobus  a  Voragine,  cap.  IX.  (ed.  Graesse, 
p.  60).  Here  it  is  referred  to  Clemens,  Ecclesiastica  Historia ^ 
lib.  IV. 

The  legend  bears  some  likeness  to  another  which  is  told  without 
names  of  persons  or  places.  A  certain  abbot,  wishing  to  convert  a 
robber  chief,  went  out  to  his  hiding-place.  When  surrounded  by  the 
robbers  he  offered  the  chief  his  horse  and  all  his  possessions  if  they 
had  need  of  them.  After  some  parley  he  asked  the  chief  why  they 
continued  to  live  by  violence  when  he  would  feed  them  all  without 
return  if  they  would  come  to  his  monastery.     The  incredulous  chief 


AQ  G.    H.    GEROULD 

consented  to  try  the  proposal  and  was  sumptuously  entertained  ;  but  at 
the  same  time  he  saw  the  abbot  and  monks  living  abstemiously  in  the 
midst  of  plenty.  So  he  was  converted.  See  the  so-called  Jacques  de 
Vitry  collection,  no.  62  (MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  181 34,  fol.  200(a);  the 
Alphapetu7n  Narr.  by  Etienne  de  Besan^on  (MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat. 
15913,  fol.  2(b)  ;  John  Herolt,  Sermones  de  Tempore,  no.  51,  p.  301  ; 
and  Bromyard,  Summa  Praedicantium,  E.  VII.  The  last  three  all 
refer  to  Jacques  de  Vitry  and  are  evidently  based  upon  the  pseudo- 
Jacques  mentioned  above.  T.  Wright  in  Latin  Stories,  no.  149,  p. 
135,  prints  a  version  from  MS.  Arundel  506,  fol.  48(a),  which  does 
not  refer  to  Jacques,  but  which  is  essentially  the  same. 

In  MS.  Balliol  240,  no.  6  of  the  collection,  is  still  another  story  of 
a  robber  saved  by  a  holy  man.  It  concerns  Odo,  Abbot  of  Cluny,  and 
a  man  who  afterwards  became  cellarer. 

(11)  The  Birth  of  St.  Thomas  of  Cawntirbiry  : 

Before  St.  Thomas  of  Cawntirbiry  was  born  his  mother  dreamed  that 
all  the  water  of  the  Thajnes  was  running  through  her  bosom.  She 
told  her  dream  to  a  good  man,  and  he  explained  it  thus.  He  said  your 
child  shall  make  many  men  to  sin  and  shall  suffer  sorrow.  This  water 
flowed  spiritually  when  St.  Thomas  shed  his  blood  for  the  love  of  Jesus. 

This  dream  of  Thomas'  mother  is  told  in  the  early  life  of  the  saint 
by  Edward  Grim  (Robertson,  Materials  for  the  History  of  Thomas 
Becket,  II.,  p.  356).  After  the  dream  she  consults  two  wise  men. 
One  tells  her  :  ^*  Nasciturus  ex  te  reget  populos  multos."  "  *'  Et  alter 
quidam,  in  nullo  dissidens  a  prioris  sententia,  adjecit  quod  fluenta 
gratiarum  esset  acceptums,  quibus  natale  solum  instar  fluminis  irriga- 
ret. ' '  There  is  also  another  vision  given  by  Grim.  Thomas'  mother 
dreamed  that  her  womb  was  so  enlarged  that  she  could  not  enter  the 
church.  This  latter  is  given  again  in  the  life  by  William  Fitz-Stephen 
and  by  the  writer  whom  Robertson  calls  **  Anonymous  II."  The 
dream  about  the  Thames  occurs  again  in  the  life  ''Anonymous  I." 
(Robertson,  IV.,  p.  3). 

Other  early  biographers  do  not  have  the  story,  as  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  find  out. 

A  variant  of  the  legend  appears  in  the  Icelandic  saga,  Thomas  Saga 
Erkibyskups  (ed.  Magniisson,  I.,  p.  13).  In  this  the  Thames  flowed 
*'so  close  to  the  woman  that  it  caught  her  sark,"  and  the  wise  men 
said,  "  that  living  water  would  flow  from  her  womb  "  (trans.  Magnus- 
son)  .     The  other  vision  is  also  told. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  4I 

The  source  of  the  story  in  the  Met.  Horn,  may  have  been  one  of 
the  numerous  biographies  of  St.  Thomas  which  were  written  soon  after 
his  death.  Or  our  author  may  have  had  the  legend  by  word  of 
mouth.  Since  it  did  not  find  its  way  into  the  great  collection  of  ex- 
empla  there  is  difficulty  in  judging  whence  our  author  took  it.  A 
similar  story  is  told  by  William  of  Malmesbury  concerning  the  mother 
of  ^thelwold.  While  she  was  pregnant  a  golden  eagle  was  seen  to 
fly  from  her  mouth.  Gesta  Pontificum  (ed.  Hamilton,  p.  166). 
Somewhat  similar  is  the  vision  of  Evelac  in  the  Grail  saga,  according 
to  which  he  dreamed  that  nine  streams  flowed  from  the  belly  of  Celi- 
doine,  eight  of  them  equal  in  size,  the  ninth  larger  than  all  the  others 
put  together.  This  is  later  interpreted  to  the  king  as  designating 
Galahad.        See,     for     example,     Hucher,    Le    Saint    Graal^     II., 

P-  323- 

(12)  Gyezi  and  Naaman  :   Biblical. 

(13)  The  Usurious  Knight : 

Beyond  the  sea  lived  a  bishop  named  Piers,  and  near  him  a  man 
who  had  won  wealth  and  knighthood  through  usury.  Nor  did  these 
practices  cease  when  he  became  knight.  He  passed  his  time  in  hunt- 
ing and  in  his  business.  Through  the  grace  of  Christ  he  became  peni- 
tent and  confessed  to  the  bishop.  For  penance  the  bishop  told  him 
that  he  must  give  to  a  beggar  whom  he  should  meet  whatever  he 
asked.  Well  pleased  by  this  light  command,  the  knight  went  out,  met 
the  beggar,  replied  to  his  request  for  alms  by  asking  what  he  wished, 
and  granted  him  the  quarter  of  corn  which  he  demanded.  But  the 
poor  man  had  no  sack  and  so  had  to  sell  his  alms  to  the  knight  for  five 
shillings,  since  the  latter  would  lend  him  no  sack.  The  knight  put  the 
wheat  in  a  chest,  and  when  he  looked  at  it  on  the  third  day  he  found 
the  chest  full  of  snakes  and  reptiles.  In  fear  he  fled  to  the  bishop  and 
asked  what  to  do.  The  bishop  commanded  him  to  throw  himself  naked 
into  the  chest  that  he  might  save  his  soul.  This  he  did,  and  the  ver- 
min ate  his  body.  But  the  bishop  came  in  procession,  and  leaped 
scatheless  among  the  reptiles,  and  took  out  the  holy  bones  snow-white. 
These  were  honourably  buried  in  a  nunnery  where  they  heal  the 
sick. 

This  is  the  variant  of  a  tale  found  in  two  Latin  compilations  of  the 
XIII.  century,  the  one  by  Etienne  de  Bourbon  (f  1261)  and  the  other 
by  Caesar  von    Heisterbach  (a  Cistercian  who  wrote  early  in    that 

century). 


42 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


In  fitienne  de  Bourbon,  Liber  de  Septeni  Bonis  Spiritus  Sancti  (p. 
2,6d> J  Anecdotes  historiques.  .  .  .  du  recueil  inedit  d' Etien7ie  de  Bour- 
bon, ed.  Lecoy  de  la  Marche)  it  appears  in  this  form :  A  usurer,  being 
sick,  wished  rather  to  give  some  grain  to  the  poor  than  to  restore  his 
illgotten  wealth.  This  corn  he  put  into  a  chest.  His  servants  soon 
after  found  it  turned  into  serpents.  The  usurer,  therefore,  restored 
his  unrighteous  gains  and  commanded  that  his  dead  body  should  be 
thrown  to  the  serpents.  This  was  done.  *'  Quidam  addunt  quod 
evanuerunt  serpentes,  et  remanserunt  ossa  alba  et  nuda  cum 
lumine." 

In  Csesar  von  Heisterbach,  Dialogus  Miraculorum,  dist.  II.,  cap. 
XXXII.  (ed.  Strange,  I.,  p.  io6),  the  tale  concerns  a  man  buried  in 
the  church  of  St.  Gereon  at  Cologne.  A  certain  usurer  was  penitent, 
confessed,  and  was  bidden  to  enclose  his  gains  in  a  great  chest.  When 
he  opened  it  he  found  it  full  of  reptiles,  and  was  told  by  his  confessor 
that  by  this  he  could  see  how  much  God  liked  the  alms  of  usurers.  At 
the  command  of  the  priest  he  threw  himself  naked  among  the  vipers. 
The  priest  closed  the  chest  and  returned  the  next  day  when  he  found 
the  bones,  which  are  buried  at  the  door  of  St.  Gereon' s  and  prevent 
all  reptiles  from  entering  there.  This  version  is  given  and  referred  to 
Csesar  in  the  Seala  Celi  of  Johannes  Junior  (cir.  1350),  De  usura, 
fol.  151(b);  also  in  Jacob's  Well,  chap.  XXXII.  (ed.  Brandeis,  p. 
209).     Both  these  versions  follow  Csesar  closely. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  version  of  the  Met.  Horn.,  though  it  exactly 
corresponds  to  neither  of  these,  approaches  more  nearly  the  second 
than  the  first.  Our  tale  is  told  with  more  detail  and  especially  adds 
the  effective  incident  of  the  sack,  yet  it  seems  probable  that  it  owes  its 
origin  at  least  indirectly  to  Caesar  von  Heisterbach.  That  he  was 
known  in  England,  though  by  no  means  the  most  popular  ecclesiasti- 
cal compiler  of  his  time,  is  shown  by  numerous  references  in  Jacob' s 
Well  to  which  I  have  referred  above. 

(14)  The  Devil  as  Physician  : 

A  hermit  who  dwelt  in  the  desert  once  saw  the  devil  going  by 
along  the  road  and  bearing  many  painted  boxes  like  a  leech.  The 
fiend  was  bound  to  an  abbey  which  stood  near,  and  so  he  told  the 
hermit  who  asked  his  purpose.  He  said  he  would  tempt  the  brothers 
with  drinks  from  the  boxes,  with  gluttony,  envy,  with  lechery,  or 
with  some  other.  The  hermit  let  the  fiend  go  and  bade  him  return 
that  way.  The  devil  had  little  power  at  the  abbey,  and  on  his 
return  he  said  that  only  Theotist  would  do  his  will.      So  the  hermit 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  43 

went  to  the  abbey,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  monks.  He  asked  after 
Theotist,  and  when  he  met  him  he  demanded  whether  he  was  tempted 
with  fleshly  kist.  The  young  man  said  no.  Then  the  hermit  said 
that  that  was  strange  because  even  he,  now  an  old  man,  was  not  free 
from  it.  So  Theotist  confessed  that  he  was  direfully  tempted  and 
was  instructed  by  his  elder.  Soon  after  the  hermit  saw  the  fiend 
going  to  the  abbey  but  full  soon  returning  with  lamentation  that  no 
longer  had  he  power  even  over  Theotist  who  was  now  stoutest  against 
him. 

This  is  a  legend  from  the  Vitae  Patrum  where  it  is  told  three  times. 
In  lib.  III.,  par.  6i  (Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIII.,  col.  769)  ; 
in  lib.  V.  (Pelagius),  libellus  i8,  par.  9  (Migne,  LXXIII.,  col.  981)  ; 
and  in  lib.  VII.  (Paschasius),  cap.  I.  (Migne,  LXXIII.,  col.  1027). 
The  devil  while  journeying  to  Macarius'  hermits,  meets  that  saint. 
All  these  versions  omit  the  ruse  by  which  in  the  Met.  Horn.  Macarius 
prevailed  upon  the  young  hermit  to  confess.  The  young  man  is  named 
Theopemptus,  Theoctistus,  and  Theopistus  in  the  several  versions.  In 
all  three  versions,  as  indeed  in  all  I  have  found  except  the  Met.  Horn., 
phials  and  not  boxes  form  the  devil's  luggage.  In  no  other,  also,  is 
the  fiend  compared  to  a  physician.  Caxton's  Vitas  Patrum  attributes 
the  legend  to  Jerome,  but  Gregory  and  Jerome  were  to  all  mediaeval 
writers  convenient  names  to  use  when  no  better  offered. 

The  version  of  the  Met.  Horn,  appears  to  come  from  the  Speculum 
Morale  (usually  printed  without  due  cause  as  part  of  the  Speculum 
Magnum  of  Vincent  of  Beauvais)  ;  see  Spec.  Mor.,  lib.  III.,  dist. 
XIV.,  pars  X.  With  the  exception  of  the  differences  above  named 
this  is  in  all  respects  like  the  Met.  Hom.  The  name  of  the  young 
monk  is  Theotistus. 

Other  examples  are:  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  XIV., 
cap.  18,  where  only  the  first  part  of  the  story  is  given;  Jacobus  a 
Voragine,  Leg.  Aur.,  cap.  XVIII.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  loi),  a  brief  form 
with  all  the  conversation  between  Machary  and  Theotist  omitted  ;  the 
early  translation  of  the  preceding  by  Jean  de  Vignay,  ed.  Verard,  fol. 
33(a);  Etienne  de  Besan^on,  Alph.  Narr.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat. 
15913,  fol.  82(a),  where  the  young  monk's  name  is  not  mentioned, 
nor  his  conversation  with  Macarius ;  Herolt,  Prompt.  Exemp. ,  T,  ex. 
14,  which  is  most  like  Vitae  Patrum,  lib.  III.,  par.  6i  ;  an  English 
version  in  Jacob's  Well,  chap.  XVII.  (ed.  Brandeis,  p.  115),  which 
is  referred  to  the  Vitae  Patrum  but  is  most  like  Alph.  Narr.  except 


44 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


that  the  unnamed  young  hermit  drank  from  six  of  the  devil's  cruets, 
'<evil  thoughts,  sleeping,  jangling,  idleness,  laziness,  and  lust"; 
Magnum  Spec.  Exemp.  (Duaci,  1603),  Daemon,  no.  10,  exemp. 
CLXXXV.,  which  is  very  like  the  Spec.  Morale,  but  is  referred  to  a 
Liber  de  Praevidentia,  no.  11,  of  which  I  know  nothing. 

A  variant  of  the  legend  is  given  by  Jacques  de  Vitry  (ed.  Crane, 
no.  LXXV.  p.  34).  In  this  St.  Macharius  saw  a  devil,  completely 
covered  with  phials,  who  said  he  saw  going  to  visit  the  hermits  of  the 
desert.  On  his  return  the  saint  saw  that  all  the  phials  were  empty 
and  learned  that  one  monk  had  drunk  the  whole,  the  others  re- 
sisting. This  is  to  be  found  in  precisely  the  same  form  in  the 
pseudo- Vitry  collection  of  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  181 34,  fol.  201(b), 
as  no.  65. 

A  similar  tale  is  related  in  the  life  of  St.  Godric,  Hermit  of  Finchale 
(ed.  Surtees  Society,  p.  248).  A  certain  youth  who  served  a  man  of 
God  saw  a  huge  man  approach  his  master  and  try  to  make  the  saint 
drink  of  the  bottles  with  which  he  was  covered.  The  holy  man  finally 
told  the  servant  to  sprinkle  the  tempter  with  holy  water,  but  on  no  ac- 
count to  pursue  him  outside  the  church.  The  young  man  then  chased 
the  devil  to  the  door,  but  he  was  so  eager  that  he  went  outside  and 
thus  was  burned  by  the  liquor  that  the  fiend  threw  at  him. 

(15)  The  Hermit  who  Returned  to  the  World  : 

We  find  written  of  a  hermit  who  lived  long  in  the  service  of  God 
that  Satan  came  to  him  in  the  desert  as  a  messenger  from  his  mother 
and  friends.  The  fiend  said  that  they  besought  him  to  return  to  look 
after  the  property  which  his  father  had  left  at  his  death.  By  this  lie 
the  hermit  was  persuaded  to  go  home.  There  he  found  his  father 
alive  and  was  ashamed  that  he  had  been  so  deceived.  But  the  world's 
wealth  soon  made  him  forget  his  shame,  and  he  stayed  so  long  at  home 
that  he  took  a  wife  and  died  in  the  devil's  service. 

(I  have  not  found  other  references  to  this  legend.) 

(16)  The  Monk  Mawryne  : 

A  rich  man  who  had  become  a  monk  of  most  holy  life  was  disturbed 
because  he  had  left  his  daughter  in  the  world  under  the  care  of  friends. 
His  abbot  saw  that  he  was  troubled  and  asked  his  reason.  He  told 
his  superior  that  he  had  a  son  named  Mawryne  whom  he  would  fain 
make  religious.  The  abbot  told  him  that  he  would  receive  the  boy  if 
he  were  good.  So  the  monk  went  after  his  daughter,  clad  her  like  a 
boy,  and  instructed  her  to  let  no  one  know  her  sex.  She  was  shaven 
monk  and  called  Friar  Mawryne.      She  dwelt  in  her  father's  cell  and 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  45 

became  very  holy,  so  that  at  his  death  she  lived  there  alone  and  was 
greatly  esteemed.  It  happened  that  the  monks  were  enlarging  their 
abbey  and  sent  Mawryne  in  charge  of  a  cart  to  a  distant  quarry. 
There  she  lay  a  night  at  the  house  of  a  brewster.  Now  it  happened 
that  a  swain  had  lain  with  the  daughter  of  the  brewster.  When  she 
was  seen  to  be  with  child  she  told  her  friends  that  Mawryne  had  un- 
done her.  They  accused  Mawryne  to  the  abbot,  and  she  for  the  love 
of  Christ  would  not  deny  the  crime.  She  was  driven  with  bitter  words 
from  the  abbey  and  sat  outside  the  gate  where  she  was  fed  with  bread 
and  water.  Thither,  when  it  was  weaned,  the  brewster' s  daughter 
brought  her  child  which  Mawryne  cared  for  during  two  winters. 
When  she  had  lived  thus  in  penance  for  five  years  the  monks  took 
pity  on  her  humility  and  begged  the  abbot  that  she  be  admitted 
again  to  the  abbey.  So  she  was  fetched  and  made  scullion  and  slave 
of  the  convent.  Soon  after  she  died,  and  when  the  monks  went  to 
wash  the  body  before  burying  it  in  unhallowed  ground  they  found  that 
Mawryne  was  woman.  The  abbot  bewailed  and  commanded  that  she 
should  be  buried  in  great  honour.  The  brewster' s  daughter  went  mad 
but  was  healed  at  the  saint's  tomb  by  the  will  of  God. 

Horstmann  (Herrig's  Archiv,  LVIL,  p.  259  ff.)  has  printed  this 
narrative  from  MS.  Vernon,  where  it  appears  as  part  of  the  expanded 
collection  of  these  homilies. 

St.  Marina  or  Maria  (the  names  are  used  indiscriminately  to  de- 
scribe her)  was  one  of  the  numerous  holy  women  of  the  early  church 
who  lived  lives  of  rigorous  piety  by  passing  themselves  off  as  men. 
Pelagia  (see  no.  43)  pursued  the  same  course.  Marina's  festival  is 
July  17th,  or  February  12th  in  the  Greek  Church.  Under  the  former 
date  in  the  Acta  Sand.,  and  in  Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIII.,  col. 
691,  is  printed  the  account  of  the  saint  from  Rosweyd's  Vitae  Patruniy 
lib.  I.  This  is  probably  the  source  of  our  version.  Gering,  Islendzk 
j^ventyri,  1882-3,  H-j  P-  127  ff.  treats  the  history  of  the  legend,  dis- 
tinguishing two  groups,  both  of  which  go  back  to  an  original  Greek 
form :  (A)  version  printed  in  Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Grceca,  CXV.,  347; 
and  (B)  that  of  the  Acta  Sanct.  mentioned  above.  The  former  dif- 
fers from  the  latter  in  making  the  daughter  follow  her  father  to  the 
monastery  of  her  own  will ;  in  making  her  exile  from  the  abbey  three 
years  instead  of  five,  etc. 

To  type  (A)  belong  the  version  in  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.y 
XV.,  94,  and  the  Icelandic  version  printed  by  Gering,  I.,  p.  149  ff. 


46  G.    H.    GEROULD 

To  type  (B)   belong  the  majority  of  the  versions  preserved,  as  for 
example  : 

Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  LXXXIV.  (ed.  Graesse, 

P-  353)- 

Jean  de  Vignay,  fol.  104(b)  (ed.  1493)- 

Etienne  de  Besangon,  Aiph.  Narr.^  MS.    Bibl.   Nat.   lat.    159 13, 

fol.  5(a). 

Herolt,  Prompt.  Exemp.,  P,  ex.  7. 

Caxton,  Vitas  Patrum,  fol.  71. 

Met.  Ho7n. 

MS.  Harl.,  2253,  printed  by  Boddeker,  Altenglische  Dichtungen 
des  MS.  Harl.  22^3,  1878,  p.  253  ff.;  by  Horstmann,  Samrnlung 
altenglischer  Legenden,  1878,  p.  170  ff. 

The  two  versions  last  named  are  very  similar  in  form ;  and  as  Kol- 
bing,  Engl.  St.,  II.,  509,  has  already  pointed  out  they  agree  with  each 
other  in  some  points  where  they  disagree  with  the  version  of  Acta 
Sanct.  Kolbing  concludes  that  the  version  contained  in  the  Vernon 
MS.  was  made  from  a  Latin  form  nearly  allied  to  that  of  Acta  Sanct. 
but  not  identical  with  it.  As  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  table  in 
PartL,  pp.  8  and  9,  Boddeker's  supposition  (p.  255)  that  the  story  of 
Marina  is  not  contained  in  the  Camb.  MSS.  is  altogether  in- 
correct. 

A  story  attaching  to  St.  Theodora  is  most  similar  to  this  of  Maw- 
ryne.  She  was  living  as  a  monk  under  the  name  of  Theodore  and  was 
actually  solicited  by  the  girl  who  afterward  accused  her.  The  sex  of 
the  saint  was  revealed  to  the  abbot  in  a  dream. 

Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  XCII.  (ed.  Graesse,  p. 
397).  For  the  general  origin  of  the  Marina-Pelagia-Theodore  story 
see  no.  43. 

(17)  Saint  Bernard  and  the  Peasant : 

We  find  written  that  St.  Bernard,  on  his  way  to  a  city  on  business 
from  his  abbey,  once  greeted  a  tillman  and  asked  him  what  was  his 
prayer.  The  man  said  that  he  knew  only  the  Pater  Noster.  Then 
the  saint  asked,  '  ^  What  ]>inkes  ))0u  godeman  all  waies.  When  )?ou  ]n 
pater  noster  sayes  ? ' '  The  man  said  he  thought  always  of  Christ. 
Then  said  Bernard,  ' '  Full  well  es  ]?e  l^t  so  male  do  For  so  ne  fares  it 
no3;t  of  me. ' '  The  peasant  said  that  was  strange,  for  a  monk  should 
not  let  his  thoughts  stray  more  than  a  tillman.  So  the  saint  promised 
him  his  palfrey  if  he  could  say  Pater  Nosters  all  the  day  without  an 
evil  thought.     The   man  was   glad  and  soon  began   his  prayer,  but 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  47 

before  he  had  said  three  words  he  wondered  whether  he  would  get 
both  saddle  and  bridle  with  the  palfrey.  Again  he  tried,  but  again 
failed.     And  St.  Bernard  who  knew  his  thoughts  gave  him  nothing. 

This  legend,  which  is  perhaps  related  to  the  celebrated  fabliau 
* '  Les  Souhaits  de  Saint  Martin ' '  with  the  numberless  affiliated  tales 
associated  with  it  (cf.  J.  Bedier,  Les  Fabliaux^  p.  177,  for  discussion 
of  these  related  stories),  is  found  with  certain  variations  in  several 
collections  of  exempla :  Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea^  cap. 
CXX.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  534);  Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Celt,  fol.  33(b). 
Both  these  versions  mention  St.  Bernard.  Herolt  in  Prompt.  Exemp., 
O,  22,  gives  a  version  where  a  priest  takes  the  place  of  the  saint.  An- 
other variant  is  found  in  the  pseudo-Vitry  collection  of  MS.  Bibl.  Nat. 
lat.  1 81 34,  no.  12,  fol.  182(a).  Here  one  friend  offers  another  his 
horse  if  he  can  say  a  Pater  Noster  without  thinking  of  something  else. 
He  falls  the  victim  to  the  thought  of  the  saddle  as  in  our  version. 

Bernard  appears  in  a  similar  story  in  the  Gesta  Romanoruniy  cap. 
170  (ed.  Oesterley,  p.  560),  where  he  wagers  his  horse  at  dice  against 
the  soul  of  a  ' '  lusor. ' '  He  wins  by  throwing  eighteen  with  three  dice 
against  his  opponent's  seventeen. 

In  Romania,  XIII.,  p.  30,  J.  Ulrich  prints  an  old  Italian  legend  of 
St.  Bernard  and  a  demoniac,  and  refers  it  to  Jacobus  a  Voragine  as 
above.     But  the  story  is  altogether  different. 

(18)   Saint  Eustace  : 

A  knight  named  Placidas  lived  in  Rome.  He  was  of  good  life  but 
knew  not  Christianity.  He  had  great  power  under  Trajan  and  was  a 
general  of  renown.  He  had  a  wife  of  noble  birth  and  life,  and  they 
had  two  young  sons.  While  hunting  one  day  with  his  knights  he  saw 
a  herd  of  deer  in  a  wood  and  pursued  a  noble  hart  so  fast  and  long 
that  he  outdistanced  all  his  men.  At  length  the  hart  leaped  up  a  cliff, 
where  he  could  not  follow,  and  there  stood.  As  Placidas  gazed  he  saw 
a  crucifix  between  the  beast's  horns,  and  he  fell  down  in  fear  at  the 
sight.  At  last  he  rose  and  looked  again.  The  hart  spoke  to  him  and 
said  that  he  was  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  all  things,  who  had  been 
crucified.  Many  more  things  he  told  the  knight  and  commanded  him 
to  become  a  Christian  and  to  come  thither  again..  So  Placidas  rode 
home  with  his  followers  and  told  his  wife  of  the  happening.  About 
midnight  they  rose  and  went  with  their  sons  to  the  bishop  who  dwelt 
secretly  at  Rome.  Placidas  was  then  baptized  as  Eustace,  his  wife  as 
Theophiste,  and  their  sons  as  Theotist  and  Agapiton.     The  next  day 


48 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


Eustace  sought  the  cliff  again,  and  there  was  instructed  by  Christ  that 
he  should  be  tempted  and  should  suffer  at  the  hands  of  Satan  like  Job, 
but  that  he  should  be  delivered.  He  returned  home  and  was  comforted 
by  his  wife.  Soon  after  they  began  to  suffer  and  lost  all  their  servants 
and  wealth.  When  for  shame  they  could  no  longer  live  in  Rome  they 
went  forth  and  lived  as  laborers  in  a  neighboring  country.  The  Em- 
peror and  the  people  when  they  found  that  they  were  gone  sorrowed 
at  their  loss.  Later  Eustace  took  ship  at  a  port  and  crossed  the  sea. 
The  shipmaster  was  pleased  with  the  lady  and  would  not  let  her  go, 
but  God  kept  her  from  stain.  So  grieving  at  the  loss  of  his  wife 
Eustace  went  on  with  his  children.  While  bearing  them  across  a 
river  one  at  a  time  he  lost  them  both,  for  they  were  borne  away  by  a 
wolf  and  a  lion,  he  being  in  midstream.  But  some  laborers  saved 
the  children  and  cared  for  them  as  their  own.  Ignorant  of  all  this, 
and  sorely  cast  down,  Eustace  went  to  a  town  and  served  a  man  faith- 
fully for  more  than  fifteen  winters,  while  near  by  dwelt  his  sons  and 
his  wife,  who  supported  herself  as  a  seamstress.  It  happened  that  the 
Emperor  was  in  sore  need  of  Eustace  as  a  general  and  sent  into  all 
countries  to  seek  him.  Two  knights  came  where  he  was  but  did  not 
recognize  their  old  master.  They  inquired  for  Placidas.  He  said  he 
knew  no  such  man  but  brought  them  to  his  master's  house.  As  he 
served  them  one  of  them  noticed  that  he  wept,  and  at  last  they  saw  a 
resemblance  in  him  to  Placidas.  They  proved  their  suspicion  correct 
by  looking  at  his  ear  which  they  knew  had  once  been  wounded.  With 
tears  of  joy  they  told  the  husbandmen  of  Placidas,  and  so  led  him  to- 
ward Rome.  Eustace  told  all  his  adventures,  and  at  the  end  of  forty 
days  they  came  to  Rome.  When  they  arrived  they  found  that  Trajan 
was  dead  and  that  Hadrian  reigned  in  his  stead.  None  the  less  Sir 
Eustace  led  the  armies  of  the  empire  to  victory.  He  came  to  a  city 
where  dwelt  his  wife ;  and  his  sons,  who  were  in  the  army  unknown 
to  him  and  to  each  other,  lodged  at  her  house.  After  three  days  they 
began  to  talk  in  her  presence  of  their  childhood,  and  so  were  revealed 
to  her  as  well  as  to  one  another.  She  went  to  the  general  and  told  her 
tale,  and  as  she  told  it  recognized  her  husband.  So  after  many  explan- 
ations they  were  all  united  and  had  more  wealth  than  before.  But 
since  they  refused  to  worship  the  gods  of  Hadrian,  the  Emperor  bade 
that  they  be  given  to  a  lion.  The  lion  refused  to  harm  them,  and 
Hadrian  in  his  rage  commanded  that  they  be  shut  up  in  a  brazen  ox, 
heated  white-hot.     God  made  the  ox  all  cold  and  took  their  souls  to 


NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  49 

heaven,  so  that  when  their  bodies  were  taken  out  they  were  found  un- 
singed.  The  Emperor  sighed  therefore,  and  many  heathen  were 
turned  to  Christ. 

This  life  of  St.  Eustace  —  the  medieval  Job  —  varies  little  from  the 
customary  accounts.  Indeed,  the  differences  in  all  the  lives  are  trivial 
considering  the  widespread  popularity  of  the  legend.  The  cult  of  the 
saint  is  discussed  in  the  Acta  Sanct.,  Oct.,  tom.  VI.,  die  12.  The 
most  complete  account  of  the  various  versions  of  the  legend  is  to  be 
found  in  Dos  obras  didacticas  y  dos  leyendas  sacadas  de  manuscritos  de 
la  biblioteca  del  Escorial,  ed.  H.  Knust,  1878,  pp.  107  ff.  Reviews 
of  this  work  by  H.  Varnhagen,  Angl.,  III.,  p.  399,  and  by  R.  Kohler, 
Zts.f.  rom.  Phil.^  III.,  p.  272  give  additional  material. 

Latin  versions : 

(i)  Acta  Sanct.y  Sept.,  tom.  VL,  die  20,  p.  123,  Acta  Fabulosa  ex 
MS.  Medicaeo  regis  Franciae.  This  is  the  oldest  version  which  we 
possess. 

(2)  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  X.,  caps.  58-61  and  cap. 
82.     The  martyrdom  is  here  given  separately. 

(3)  Jacques  de  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  CLXI.  (ed. 
Graesse,  p.  712). 

(4)  Gesta  Romanorum  (ed.  Oesterley,  p.  444)- 

(5)  Etienne  de  Besangon,  Alpha.  Narr.  (MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat. 
1 59 1 3,  fol.  36(a),  a  shortened  form  of  the  Legenda  Aurea. 

(6)  Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Celt,  Passio  Christi,  fol.  130(b)  gives 
the  first  part  of  the  legend  up  to  the  baptism. 

(7)  Nicephorus  Callistus  treats  the  legend  in  his  Hist.  Eccl.,  lib. 
III.,  cap.  xxix.  (Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Graeca,  CXLV.,  col.  954). 

(8)  Brief  resume  in  Menologium  Graecorum  (see  Knust,  op.  cit.y 
p.  107). 

(9)  In  hexameters.  Acta  Sanct.,  loc.  cit. 

(10)  In  hexameters,  MS.  Laud  Misc.  410,  ed.  Varnhagen,  Its.  fur 
deuisches  Alterthum,  XXV.,  i. 

(11)  In  hexameters  by  Peter  of  Rheims  (see  Angl.,  III.,  400). 

(12)  In  distiches,  MS.  Arundel  23,  ed.  Varnhagen,  Zts .  fiir  deuisches 
Alterthum,  XXIV.,  241. 

(13)  In  distiches.  Cod.  Ver.,  XC,  fol.  70(a),  ed.  Diimmler,  Zts. 
fiir  deutsches  Alterthum,  XXIII. ,  273. 

French  versions : 


so 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


(i)  Fragment  of  a  version  in  alexandrines  byBenoit,  MS.  Egerton 
1066  (see  Meyer,  Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  des  Aitc.  Textes  frangais^  IV., 
57  ;  and  Knust,  op,  cit.,  p.  114)- 

(2)  In  alexandrine  couplets,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  fr.  1555  (see  Knust, 
op.  cit.y  117),  by  Guillaume  de  Ferrieres  (see  Meyer,  loc.  cit.). 

(3)  In  alexandrine  quatrains  (see  Meyer,  loc,  cit,), 

(4)  In  decasyllables,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  fr.  1707  (see  Knust,  op,  cit., 
p.  116). 

(5)  In  octosyllables,  MSS.  Bibl.  Nat.  fr.  19530  and  Egerton  745 
(see  Knust,  op,  cit.,  p.  116),  by  a  certain  Pierre  (see  Meyer,  loc.  cit,), 

(6)  In  irregular  metre,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  fr.  24951. 

(7)  In  octosyllables,  MS.  F.  149,  Bibl.  Nat.  at  Madrid  (see  Meyer, 
loc,  cit,), 

(8)  In  prose,  Jean  de  Vignay's  Legende  Doree,  fol.  207(b). 

For  the  tragedies  on  this  theme  see  Nisard,  Hist,  des  Livres  popu- 
laires,  II.,  186;  and  Knust,  op.  cit,,  117. 

German  versions  : 

(i)  Rudolf  von  Ems,  ed.  Roth,  Deutsche  Predigten  des  XII.  u. 
XIII,  Jahrh,,  1839  (see  Knust,  op.  cit.,  119). 

(2)  Der  Vaeter  Buoch  (a  translation  with  additions  of  the  Vitae 
Patrum),  see  Knust,  loc,  cit. 

(3)  Hermann  von  Fritzler  in  Legendeft  von  Heiligen,  ed.  Pfeiffer, 
Die  d,  Mystiker  des  XIV.  Jahrh.  (see  Knust,  loc.  cit.). 

(4)  A  version  printed  1455,  perhaps  by  Zobel  (see  Knust,  loc. 
cit.). 

Italian  versions : 

( 1 )  Rappresentatione  di  Sancto  Eustachio,  a  mystery  several  times 
printed  during  the  1 6th  cent,  (see  Knust,  op.  cit.,  117). 

(2)  La  Historia  di  Sancto  Eustachio,  verse,  (see  Knust,  op,  cit,, 
118). 

(3)  La  Historia  santo  Eustachio,  prose,  (see  Knust,  loc,  cit.). 

(4)  Delia  Vita  S.  Eustachio  Mar  tire,  Giovanni  Batt.  Manzini, 
Venetia,  1663,  (see  Knust,  loc.  cit.). 

(5)  Historia  Eustachio- Mariana,  A.  Kircher,  Romae,  1665,  (see 
Knust,  loc.  cit.). 

(6)  ByFra  Domenico  Cavalca,  see  Kohler,  Zts.f.  ro}n,  Phil.,  III., 

275- 

Spanish  versions : 

(i)  Translation  of  Latin  version  into  Spanish  prose,  ed.  Knust,  op. 
cit.,  pp.  123  ff.,  from  MS.  &  II.  8  of  the  Escurial. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  5 1 

( 2 )  Las  quatro  Estrellas  de  Roma  y  el  martirio  mas  sangriento  de 
San  Eustachio,  a  comedy  (see  Knust,  op,  cii.y  p.  112). 

Miscellaneous : 

Versions  of  the  legend  are  found  in  the  Scandinavian  and  Slavic 
tongues,  also  in  Breton,  sometimes  as  folk-songs. 

English  versions : 

(i)  ^Ifric  in  his  Lives  of  Saints,  no.  30,  (ed.  Skeat,  p.  190)  gives 
a  clear,  full  account  which  closely  follows  the  original  Latin  version. 

(2)  Early  South-English  Legendary,  ed.  Horstmann,  p.  393.  For 
the  MSS.  see  Horstmann,  pp.  xiii-xxiv. 

This  version  is  precisely  like  that  of  the  Met.  Hom.  as  far  as  events 
are  concerned,  though  it  bears  little  resemblance  in  language. 

(3)  Met.  Hom.  Found  in  all  the  MSS.  save  Harl.  2391  and  Edin. 
See  table  in  Part  I.     Also  in  expanded  collections. 

(4)  Version  from  MS.  Digby  86,  ed.  Horstmann,  Altengl.  Leg., 
Neue  Folge,  p.  211.     This  gives  no  names  except  that  of  Eustace. 

(5)  Barbour' s  Legend  Collection,  ed.  Horstmann,  II.,  12;  Metcalfe, 
II.,  69.     This  follows  the  Legenda  Aurea. 

(6)  John  Partridge's  version,  ed.  Horstmann,  Altengl.  Leg.,  Neue 
Folge,  p.  472  ;  also  for  Roxburgh  Club,  1872. 

(7)  In  1599  a  drama  by  John  Chettle  entitled  The  Hystorie  of  the 
moste  noble  knight  Plasidas  was  presented  in  London.  Published  for 
Roxburgh  Club,  1873. 

The  version  of  Met.  Hom.  probably  was  taken  from  the  early  Latin 
form  and  presents  the  legend  without  much  change. 

An  interesting  cycle  of  romance  stories  grew  up  round  the  Eustace 
legend.  These  romances  have  not  yet  been  made  the  subject  of  an 
exhaustive  investigation  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  general  rela- 
tions to  the  parent  legend  (though  the  literature  of  the  subject  is  con- 
siderable) ;  nor  can  I  do  more  here  than  to  enumerate  them.  The 
following  romances  or  stories  all  have  more  or  less  intimate  connec- 
tions with  the  Placidas  legend. 

(i)  Guillaume  d'Engleterre.^ 

(2)  Der  Graf  von  Savoy. ^ 

(3)  Die  gute  Frau.^ 

(4)  Wilhelm  von  Wenden.* 


iBy  Crestien  de  Troyes,  ed.  Foerster,  1899. 

2  Ed.  J.  Eschenburg,  1799. 

3  Ed.  Sommer,  Zts.  f.  d.  Alterthum,  II.,  392. 
*By  Ulrich  von  Eschenbach,  ed.  Toischer,  1876. 


52 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


(5)  The  Octavian  romances.^ 

(6)  La  Historia  del  Cavallero  Cifar.^ 

(7)  Story  in  Early  English  Versions  of  the  Gesta  Romanoruni^  ed. 
Heritage,  p.  87. 

(8)  Sir  Ysumbras/ 

In  his  review  of  Knust,  Dos  obras  didacticaSy  in  Zts.  f.  torn.  Phil. , 
HI.,  272  ff.,  R.  Kohler  noticed  the  resemblance  of  the  legend  to  the 
story  in  the  Arabian  Nights  of  the  king  who  lost  all,  but  to  whom  God 
restored  everything,  and  to  an  Armenian  variant  of  this  story.  The 
variant  remains  to  be  cited  according  to  which  the  legend  attaches  to 
St.  Hubert.  See  Simrock,  Die  geschichtlichen  Deutschen  Sagen,  pp. 
46,  47;  two  ballads,  nos.  20  and  21,  the  former  by  G.  G5rres,  the 
latter  a  folksong. 

(19)  The  Uncharitable  Hermit: 

A  young  hermit  was  grievously  tempted  with  fleshly  lust  and  con- 
fessed to  a  holy  hermit  who  was  old  and  had  never  known  temptation 
of  the  body.  The  old  hermit  thus  was  uncharitable  and  told  his 
brother  that  he  would  go  to  hell.  In  great  despair  the  young  man 
set  out  toward  the  town,  meaning  to  forsake  the  holy  life.  On  his 
way  he  met  an  old  hermit  named  Apollo,  who  asked  him  of  his 
trouble  and  comforted  him  by  telling  him  that  though  old  he  himself 
suffered  temptation  of  the  flesh  daily.  After  being  instructed  how  to 
overcome  the  fiend,  the  young  man  returned  to  his  cell  to  do  penance. 
Apollo  went  to  the  hermitage  where  dwelt  the  old  hermit  and  prayed 
that  the  temptation  of  the  young  man  might  come  upon  the  old  man 
for  his  lack  of  charity.  Ere  he  ceased,  he  saw  the  fiend  shooting 
through  the  window  with  bow  and  arrow.  Grievously  tempted  the 
old  man  cast  off  his  habit  and  set  off  townward.  Apollo  followed  him 
and  upbraided  him  for  his  sin.  The  hermit  fell  on  his  knees,  con- 
fessing his  sin,  and  through  their  united  prayers  he  was  released  from 
temptation. 

The  original  of  this  legend  is  the  Vitae  Patruniy  lib.  V.,  libellus  5 
(Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIIL,  col.  874).  It  concerns  the  her- 
mit Apollonius,  who  plays  the  part  of  deus  ex  machina.  An  Ethiopian 
replaces  the  devil  and  shoots  at  the  uncharitable  hermit  as  in  the  Met. 

1  French  version,  Octavian,  ed.  Vollmoller,  1883;  English  versions,  ed.  Sarrazin, 
1885. 

«Ed.  Michelant\  1872. 
3  Ed.  Schleich,  1901. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  53 

Horn.  In  this  form  the  story  is  found  in  Jacques  de  Vitry  (ed.  Crane, 
no.  LXXXL,  p.  36)  ;  the  pseudo-Jacques  de  Vitry  of  MS.  Bibl.  Nat. 
lat.  18134,  fol.  231(a);  fetienne  de  Besancjon/ ^^>^.  Narr.,  MS. 
Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  15913,  fol.  2(a)  ;  Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Ceiiy  De 
confessore,  ed.  1483,  fol.  41(a).  Jacques  de  Vitry,  fetienne  de 
Besan^on,  and  Johannes  refer  to  the  Vitae  Patrum  as  their 
source. 

A  similar  form,  but  verbally  independent,  is  given  by  Johannes  Cas- 
sianus,  coll.  II.,  De  discretione,  cap.  XIII.  (Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Lat.y 
XLIX.  col.  544).  Another  example  is  found  in  the  Magnum  Spec. 
Exemp.  (ed.  1603),  Confessio  II.,  p.  106,  which  is  ascribed  to  Libri 
Doctrinae  P.  P.,  liber  de  fornicatione  nu.  I.,  but  which  is  the  same  as 
the  version  of  the  Vif.  Pat.  as  far  as  events  go.  In  Caxton's  Vitas 
Patrum,  fol.  231,  the  legend  is  given  in  a  treatise  against  fornication. 
A  French  version  afterward  turned  into  English  was  that  of  William  of 
Wadington,  which  formed  the  basis  for  Robert  of  Brunne's  tale.  For 
both  French  and  English  see  Ifandlyng  Synne  (ed.  Furnivall,  p,  262). 
The  story  is  ascribed  to  Gregory  but  has  the  form  of  the  Vitae  Patrum. 
A  "  blak  man  "  shoots  the  arrows  at  the  uncharitable  hermit. 

(20)  The  Knight  Beguiled  by  the  Devil : 

A  knight  beyond  the  sea,  who  had  been  rich  but  who  through  lavish 
expenditure  had  fallen  into  poverty,  was  greatly  grieved  when  the  day 
came  on  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  make  a  great  feast  in  honor  of 
Our  Lady.  In  shame  he  fled  to  a  wood  and  there  was  met  by  the  devil 
in  man's  likeness,  who  promised  him  great  wealth  if  he  would  do  his 
will.  The  knight  promised  so  to  do.  He  was  told  to  go  and  dig  for  gold 
where  it  lay  in  the  earth  and  then  to  bring  his  wife  to  the  wood.  The 
knight,  not  recognizing  the  fiend,  did  as  he  was  told,  found  the  money, 
and  again  made  feasts.  On  the  day  appointed  he  told  his  wife  to  come 
with  him  to  speak  to  a  friend,  and  so  on  their  palfreys  they  passed 
into  the  wood.  They  rode  by  a  chapel,  and  the  lady  dismounted  to 
pray  while  her  husband  rode  forward  bidding  her  not  to  be  long,  under 
penalty  of  his  anger.  She  prayed  so  long,  however,  that  she  fell 
asleep.  As  she  lay  there  Our  Lady  came,  leaped  on  the  palfrey,  and 
rode  with  the  knight  in  the  form  of  his  wife.  When  they  met  the 
fiend  he  angrily  cried  out  that  the  knight  had  brought  God's  Mother 
instead  of  his  wife.  At  this  the  knight  craved  pardon  of  Our  Lady, 
who  at  once  disappeared,  and  he  returned  to  find  his  wife  asleep  in 
the  chapel. 


54 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


This  Mary  legend  is  told  by  Jacobus  a  Voragine  in  its  present  form ; 
and  presumably  it  reached  our  author  from  that  collection,  where  it 
appears  under  Assuviptio  Virginis.  See  Legenda  Au7'ea^  cap.  CXIX. 
(ed.  Graesse,  513).  The  version  which  Wright  printed,  Latin  Stories, 
p.  31,  is  from  MS.  Arundel  506,  fol.  54(b)  and  MS.  Harl.  3216, 
fol.  6(b).  It  is  the  version  of  Voragine  again.  Johannes  Junior  in 
the  14th  century  gives  essentially  the  same  tale  {Scala  Celi,  De  muliere, 
fol.  119(b)). 

Jean  Mielot,  Miracles  de  Nostre  £>ame,  no.  II.  (ed.  Warner,  p.  5) 
gives  a  much  closer  paraphrase  of  Jacques  de  Voragine' s  account  than 
does  our  author.  For  example,  he  does  not  add  the  little  touch  of 
character  which  we  get  in  the  Met.  Horn,  where  the  knight  bids  his 
wife  not  to  stay  too  long  in  the  chapel  about  her  prayers.  A  far  more 
picturesque  and  lively  account  in  French  is  that  found  as  no.  3  in  a 
collection  of  miracles  of  the  Virgin  contained  in  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  fran. 
410  (anciens  fonds  fran.  7018*),  fol.  8(a).  The  events  narrated, 
however,  and  the  general  order  are  the  same. 

An  English  version,  the  only  one  I  know  of  beside  that  in  the  pres- 
ent collection,  is  found  in  three  of  the  MSS.  which  contain  the  South- 
English  Legendary,  viz.  MS.  Harl.  2277,  fol.  61(b),  MS.  Cott. 
Cleopatra  D.  9,  fol.  148(a),  and  MS.  Cott.  Julius  D.  9,  fol.  302(b). 
This  miracle  is  one  of  several  in  praise  of  the  Virgin  placed  after  the 
story  of  Teofle.  It  is  not  printed  by  Horstmann.  No  mention  is 
made  of  the  knight's  extravagance  as  the  cause  of  his  misfortune. 
Otherwise  the  tale  presents  no  unusual  features,  except  that  when  the 
Virgin  comes  out  from  the  chapel  in  the  form  of  his  wife  the  knight 
chides  her  for  so  long  delaying  him. 

Latin  versions  similar  to  that  printed  by  Wright  (see  above)  are 
found  in  MS.  Harl.  2316,  fol.  8(a),  and  MS.  Add.  11284,  fol.  53(b). 

Other  stories  of  devil-dealing  are  common  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  usual  object  for  which  the  victims  sell  themselves  is  money  or 
power,  though  in  some  the  motive  is  love.  The  Theophilus  story  (no. 
39)  is  an  example  of  the  former  kind,  as  is  also  the  Old  ^rtnohfab- 
Hau,  **  Du  vilain  qui  donna  son  ame  au  Deable  "  (Montaiglon -Ray- 
naud, II.,  p.  34).  In  the  latter  the  man  returns  to  the  devil  every 
ten  years  to  get  more  wealth,  but  the  fourth  time  he  loses  his  life  as 
well  as  his  soul.  A  second  story  in  the  Lege?tda  Aurea,  cap.  XXVL 
(ed.  Graesse,  p.  122),  is  similar  to  ours  in  that  a  young  man,  who  has 
sold  himself  to  the  devil  for  the  sake  of  a  maid  and  who  has  been  res- 
cued by  St.  Basil  receives  back  by  miracle   his    written   agreement. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  55 

This  legend  is  told  by  ^Ifric  in  his  life  of  St.  Basil  (ed.  Skeat,  I.,  73).^ 
A  story  in  which  Mary  figures  is  told  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec. 
Hist.,  lib.  VII.,  caps.  105,  106.  Here  a  poor  knight  of  Aquitaine 
who  has  wasted  his  property  calls  on  the  devil,  is  ready  to  deny  Christ 
but  will  not  give  up  Mary,  goes  into  a  church,  and  prays  to  the  Virgin. 
She  comforts  him  and  arranges  for  him  to  marry  the  daughter  of  a  rich 
old  knight.  Other  versions  of  this  story  are  found  in  MS.  Bibl.  Nat. 
lat.  18134,  no.  39,  of  a  collection  of  Miracles, and  in  Mielot,  Miracles 
de  Nostre  Dame,  no.  39  (ed.  Warner,  p.  37).  Similar  to  this  tale  is 
one  contained  in  MS.  Balliol,  240  (no.  44),  where  the  hero  is  not  a 
knight  but  a  clerk  who  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  bishop.  He  refuses 
to  give  up  the  Virgin,  but  instead  of  being  rewarded  with  a  wife  he 
dissolves  a  previous  marriage  and  lives  henceforth  wholly  in  the  service 
of  Mary,  * '  malorum  fugax. ' ' 

(21)  Saint  Bede  and  the  Birds  : 

In  the  life  of  St.  Bede  we  find  written  that  in  his  old  age  he  was 
blind  but  none  the  less  continued  his  preaching.  Once  as  he  went  to 
preach  his  ' '  knave ' '  grew  weary  on  a  moor  and  told  his  master  that  many 
people  had  come  thither  to  hear  him  preach.  Bede  believed  this  lie 
and  preached  till  his  knave  was  rested  and  scorned  him.  But  God 
showed  a  miracle,  for  when  Bede  had  finished  the  hard  stones  called 
out  and  the  birds  flying  past  cried  as  men  : 

*'  Blessed  be  \>o\x  >t  can  so  kenne, 
Wele  has  \xy\x.  preched  here  saule  hele." 

Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  CLXXXI.  (ed.  Graesse, 
p.  833),  gives  this  anecdote.  Bede's  servant  stopped,  however,  in  a 
valley  full  of  stones  rather  than  on  the  moor.  The  birds  are  not  men- 
tioned. The  stones  and  angels  cried  out  when  Bede  had  done: 
'*Amen,  venerabilis  pater,  .  .  .  Bene,  venerabilis  pater,  dixisti." 
It  is  also  found  in  Alph.  Narr.,  of  Etienne  de  Besangon,  MS.  Bibl. 
Nat.  lat.  1 591 3,  fol.  70(b). 

A  similar  tale  of  appreciation  shown  by  birds  to  a  holy  man  is  related 
as  a  Welsh  folk-tale.  See  Rhys,  Celtic  Folklore,  p.  219.  **  When  St. 
Beuno  lived  at  Celynnog,  he  used  to  go  regularly  to  preach  at  Llandwyn 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  water,  which  he  always  crossed  on  foot. 
But  one  Sunday  he  accidentally  dropped  his  book  of  sermons  into  the 
water,  and  when  he  had  failed  to  recover  it  a  gylfin-hir,  or  curlew, 
came  by,  picked  it  up,  and  placed  it  on  a  stone  out  of  the  reach  of  the 


1  The  story  comes  from  the  ninth  century  life  of  St.  Basil  by  Amphilochius. 


^6  G.     H.    GEROULD 

tide.  The  saint  prayed  for  the  protection  and  favour  of  the  Creator 
for  the  gylfin-hir ;  it  was  granted,  and  so  nobody  ever  knows  where 
that  bird  makes  its  nest. ' ' 

(22)   Piers  Toller: 

A  rich  merchant  called  Piers  Toller  dwelt  far  beyond  the  sea.  He 
was  a  good  man,  but  he  did  not  love  beggars  and  was  so  far  from 
charity  that  he  would  give  poor  men  nothing.  One  summer  day  the 
poor  folk  sat  in  the  sun  recounting  the  houses  where  they  had  received 
alms.  They  talked  of  Piers  and  promised  mastery  of  them  all  to  a 
beggar  who  said  that  he  would  get  alms  from  Piers.  The  beggar  went 
to  his  house,  and  as  he  stood  at  the  door  Piers  came  home  followed  by 
a  servant  with  a  basket  of  bread.  In  default  of  a  stone  he  cast  a  loaf 
at  the  beggar  who  bore  it  off  blithely  to  his  fellows  and  received  his 
reward.  On  the  third  day  Piers  fell  sick,  and  in  a  trance  saw  his 
judgment.  A  pair  of  balances  hung  before  him.  In  one  scale  the 
fiends  heaped  up  his  sins  and  the  angels  could  find  nothing  to  put  in 
the  other  side  except  the  little  loaf  which  he  had  thrown  at  the  beggar. 
Yet  this  bore  up  all  his  sins.  After  being  advised  by  the  angels  he 
woke  from  his  trance  and  became  a  man  of  great  charity,  beloved  by 
all.  Once  he  met  a  ship-broken  mariner  and  gave  him  his  cloak. 
The  poor  man  was  unwilling  to  wear  so  rich  a  garment  and  sold  it  at 
a  booth.  When  Piers  found  this  out  he  was  sorrowful  and  thought 
that  because  of  his  un worthiness  God's  servants  would  not  wear  his 
clothes.  He  was  comforted  by  Christ  who  appeared  to  him  clad  in  the 
garment  which  he  had  given  the  mariner.  Then  he  bade  a  clerk  take 
ten  pounds  to  buy  merchandise  and  to  sell  him  to  a  Christian  in  some 
distant  land.  Unwillingly  the  clerk  did  so,  sold  him  for  thirty  pence 
which  he  gave  to  the  poor,  and  Piers  became  the  servant  of  a  man  in 
reduced  circumstances  named  Goyle.  Through  his  efforts  Goyle  be- 
came rich,  but  he  himself  did  menial  duties  and  was  called  Dob-Daffe. 
Christ  appeared  to  him  to  give  him  comfort,  and  soon  after  he  was 
recognized  by  some  merchants  of  his  country  whom  he  served  at  the 
house  of  Goyle.  They  tried  to  take  him  for  the  sake  of  the  Emperor 
who  was  sad  at  his  loss.  Piers,  in  order  to  escape  from  them,  ad- 
dressed a  deaf-and-dumb  porter  at  the  gate  who  by  a  miracle  answered 
him  and  his  pursuers.  The  man  said  that  a  fire  came  out  of  Piers' 
mouth  and  touched  his  tongue.  But  Piers  was  never  seen  again, 
though  we  may  be  sure  that  he  was  taken  to  bliss. 


NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  57 

The  story  of  Piers  the  Usurer,  which  was  so  popular  in  the  Middle 
Ages  that  it  has  certain  characteristics  of  the  folk-tale,  nevertheless 
seems  to  originate  with  the  life  of  St.  John  the  Almoner  by  Leontius  of 
Naples.  John  of  Alexandria,  commonly  known  as  Johannes  Elee- 
mosynarius,  lived  at  the  end  of  the  VI.  century,  and  his  biographer, 
Leontius,  was  a  contemporary.  The  Greek  text  of  the  life  has  been 
published  by  Heinrich  Gelzer  (Freiburg  and  Leipzig,  1893).  The 
story  appears  in  chap.  XXIL,  p.  40,  and  is  said  to  be  one  that  John 
the  Almoner  was  accustomed  to  tell.  The  general  course  of  the  story 
is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Met.  Horn. ,  but  it  has  a  different  beginning, 
which  I  quote  from  the  translation  by  Anastasius  (Migne,  Fair.  Curs. 
Lat.,  LXXIIL,  col.  356):  ''Habebam,  inquit,  quemdam  ministrum 
in  apotheca  mea  in  Cypro,  fidelem  valde,  et  virginem  usque  ad  obitum 
suum.  Hie  ergo  narrabat  mihi  quia  [sic]  in  Africa  existente  me  facta 
est  res  hujusmodi :  Permanebam  enim,  ait,  cum  quodam  toloneario, 
divite  vehementer  et  immisericordi."  So  the  story  seems  to  have 
justification  for  its  likeness  to  a  fabliau  in  its  origin.  The  name  of 
Piers'  master  at  Jerusalem,  which  appears  as  Goyle  in  the  Met.  H0771., 
is  Iujtlo<i  in  the  Greek  text ;  and  the  original  of  Dob-Daffe  appears  less 
picturesquely  as  T^aparLaiw^^,  or  in  the  translation  Amens. 

All  the  derivatives  which  I  have  found  save  that  of  the  Met.  Horn. 
refer  more  or  less  indirectly  to  John  the  Almoner.  The  version  of  the 
Legeiida  Aurea,  cap.  XXVII.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  126),  is  briefer  than 
that  of  the  Met.  Horn.,  but  it  follows  the  original  almost  as  closely. 
It  does  not  state  what  the  beggar's  wager  was.  In  it,  morever,  Petrus 
was  taken  sick  two  days  after  he  threw  the  loaf  at  the  beggar.  So  this 
can  hardly  be  the  source  whence  our  author  took  the  story.  The  ver- 
sion of  Leg.  Aurea  is  found  in  the  paraphrase  by  Jean  de  Vignay, 
Legende  Doree,  fol.  40(a),  and  in  Caxton's  Golden  Legend. 

In  the  Speculum  Morale,  lib.  I.,  dist.  104,  pars  3,  is  found  a  brief 
version  with  no  mention  of  the  beggars,  etc.  In  lib.  II.,  dist.  6,  pars 
2,  it  is  told  again  and  with  much  detail  except  at  the  end.  Another 
XIII.  century  version  is  the  fragment  contained  in  the  Alpha.  Narr. 
by  Etienne  de  Besan^on  (MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  159 13,  fol.  34(b)  ), 
where  the  story  is  told  up  to  the  point  where  Petrus  awakes.  The 
incident  of  the  mantle  is  told  as  a  separate  anecdote  on  the  same  leaf. 
In  the  XIV.  century  the  story  appears  in  Latin  in  the  Sermones  de 
tempore  of  John  Herolt,  no.  81,  p.  463.  Petrus  is  not  named  in  the 
beginning  of  this  version,  but  incidentally  later  on  he  is  mentioned 
by  name. 


^8  G.    H.    GEROULD 

William  of  Wadington  and  Robert  of  Brunne  give  the  story  but  with 
some  differences.  See  JIand/yng  Synne,  ed.  Ymniv all,  p.  iJS-^  Piers 
was  an  ''  okerere."  The  beggars  didn't  talk  of  him  till  they  saw  him 
come  out  of  his  gate.  The  beggar  met  him  on  his  return.  ''The 
ship-broken  mariner  ' '  becomes 

**  ...    a  man 

As  nakede  as  he  was  bore 
]?at  yn  ]>e  se  had  alle  lore. ' ' 

Piers  saw  this  man  sell  the  garment  which  he  gave  him.  The  incident 
of  selling  Piers  is  told  in  detail.  The  clerk  sold  him  to  an  old  ac- 
quaintance named  "  Zole."     The  nickname  is  not  given. 

Another  rather  free  version  is  that  in  Jacob' s  Well,  chap.  XXIX. 
(ed.  Brandeis,  p.  192).  In  this  the  fact  of  the  wager  is  merely  stated. 
**  Perys  bare  rye-louys  fro  \e  oven  to  \e  pantrye."  In  his  dream  the 
loaf  did  not  outweigh  the  sins.  The  latter  part  of  the  story  is  told 
with  great  brevity. 

The  incident  about  the  mantle  bears  a  certain  resemblance  to  the 
well-known  legend  about  St.  Martin  which  appears  as  no.  25. 

(23)  The  Hermit  and  the  Thieves  : 

A  hermit  in  a  desert  was  robbed  by  thieves,  though  he  had  few  pos- 
sessions. When  they  were  gone  he  remembered  a  sack  which  they 
had  not  found,  and  he  ran  after  them  with  the  sack.  They  were  so 
moved  by  his  meekness  that  they  repented  and  were  good  men  from 
that  day. 

I  have  found  this  story  nowhere  but  in  Caxton's  Vitas  Patrum,  fol. 
300.     There  it  occurs  without  essential  differences  from  our  version. 

(24)  The  Man  in  the  Devil's  Leash  : 

A  holy  man  stood  in  a  churchyard  praying  and  saw  a  fiend  pass  by 
with  a  man  in  leash.  By  God's  grace  the  man  broke  away  and  went 
into  the  church.  He  made  confession  to  the  priest  and  came  out 
again.  The  fiend  who  was  awaiting  his  prey  at  the  stile  did  not  know 
him  and  was  both  astonished  and  angry  when  the  holy  man  told  him 
that  his  victim  had  passed  by. 

The  original  of  this  tale  is  the  Vitae  Patrum,  lib.  VII.  (Migne,  Patr. 
Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIIL,  col.  1046).  It  is  told  of  Paul  the  Simple  and  is 
more  detailed  than  our  story.  While  the  man  was  within  the  church 
Paul  prayed  and  wept.     The  man  who  was  dark  and  stained  by  sin 

1  Printed  by  Morris,  Spec,  of  Early  English,  1867,  p.  109. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  59 

when  he  entered  came  out  radiant,  so  that  the  devil  did  not  know  him. 
Paul  first  addressed  the  devil,  then  heard  the  narration  of  the  man  at 
some  length. 

The  derivatives  of  this  are  of  three  kinds  : 

A.  Those  which  follow  the  original  very  closely  include  :  Spec. 
Morale,  lib.  III.,  dist.  XIX.,  pars  III.  (somewhat  less  detailed  than 
that  of  V.  F.)',  Herolt,  Sermones  Quadragesimales,  IX.  (like  that  oi 
Spec.  Morale)',  Herolt,  Prompt  Exemp.,  M,  exemp.  19  (almost  word 
for  word  like  that  of  V.  F.)  ;  Robert  of  Brunne,  Handlyng  Synne  and 
Wadington,  Le  Manuel  des  Fechiez  (ed.  Furnivall,  p.  378),  where 
Paul  is  mentioned  only  as  a  good  hermit  and  the  chain  broke  as  the 
man  entered  the  church,  and  on  being  questioned  the  man  said  he  felt 
burdened  with  an  old  sin  before  he  was  shriven  but  afterward  felt  won- 
drous light ;  and  Met.  Horn. 

B.  That  of  John  Herolt,  Sermones  de  Tempore,  CXXXIX.  A  mart 
had  evil  thoughts.  So  the  devil  came  to  him  in  the  form  of  a  travel- 
ler. As  they  were  walking  together  the  man  began  to  be  afraid  and 
went  into  a  church  which  they  were  passing.  It  was  Lent.  After  con- 
fession he  came  out,  but  the  devil  did  not  recognize  him  and  asked 
where  his  companion  had  gone. 

C.  The  form  of  Nicole  de  Bozon,  Contes  Moralises,  no.  58  (ed. 
Smith  and  Meyer,  p.  81),  where  the  devil  doesn't  appear,  the  holy 
man  merely  noticing  the  change  in  appearance  of  a  sinner ;  and  that 
qf  Herolt,  Sermones  Quadragesimales,  XV.,  where  the  devil  saw  men 
*^  claros  recedere  de  confessione. " 

(25)   Saint  Martin's  Cloak: 

St.  Martin  met  a  naked  cripple  one  day,  and  since  he  had  nothing 
to  give  but  his  own  clothes  and  was  riding  in  knight's  apparel  of  tunic 
and  mantle  only,  he  cut  his  cloak  in  two  with  his  sword  and  gave  one 
half  to  the  beggar.  People  laughed  him  to  scorn,  but  that  night 
Christ  appeared  to  him  clad  in  the  half  which  he  had  given  the  poor 
man.      And  Christ  said  to  an  angel : 

'*  .   .   .   todaie  Martine  cledde  me 
Wi|>  jjis  clothe  als  ))Ou  maie  se." 

This  well-known  anecdote  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours  is  found  in  the 
Vita  by  Sulpicius  Severus,  lib.  L,  par.  3  (Migne,  Fatr.  Curs.  Lat. 
XX.,  col.  162).  It  happened  while  Martin  was  serving  as  a  soldier 
in  his  youth  at  Amiens.  Christ  made  a  long  address  to  a  multitude  of 
angels  when  he  appeared  that  night. 


6o  G.    H.    GEROULD 

T^e  legend  has  been  a  very  popular  subject  in  art.  Perhaps  its  best 
known  appearance  in  literature  is  Li  Dis  du  Mantel  Saint  Martin,  by- 
Jean  de  Conde  (ed.  Scheler,  Dits  et  Contes,  etc.,  III.,  p.  313), 
Two  versions  in  Old  English  follow  closely  their  original,  Severus : 
B tickling  Ho??iilies  (ed.  Morris,  p.  213);  and  ^Ifric,  Lives  of  Saints. 
no.  XXXI.  (ed.  Skeat,  II.,  p.  222). 

(26)  The  Devil  in  Church  : 

A  holy  man  at  preaching  saw  the  fiend  glide  about  with  a  pitcher 
and  a  cup.     And  whoever  drank  of  the  cup  went  to  sleep. 

This  story  is  a  sort  of  abstract  of  a  monkish  example  from  the  Vitce 
Fatrum,  often  referred  to  St.  Machary.  The  version  of  John  Brom- 
yard (late  XIV.  cent.)  is  most  like  this.  It  runs  as  follows  :  ''  Vnde 
fertur  quod  cum  quidam  videret  populum  indevotu;;?  cui  pr^dicavit 
qt/asi  pigros  et  somnole^ztos  ad  rogatuw  suum  deus  ostendit  ei  causam 
indevotio/ns.  Videbat  siquidem  que/^zdam  nigrum  circuire  et  ponere 
digitos  suos  sup^r  aures  et  oculos  populi  ne  audire/zt :  sed  dormire/zt 
et  requisit^/^  de  nomine  dixit  se  dyabolu;;^  esse  :  nomenque  suum  esse 
obtura;?s  aures  et  oculos  :  requisit^^i-  etiafn  si  socios  ha^eret.  Kesjfon- 
dit  se  tres  h^^^re  socios  ibide;/z  secum  :  quorum  unus  dicehsLtur  indu- 
ra^s  cor  ne  eontersLntur.  Alius  obtura;zs  os  ne  confitea.ntuT.  Teicius 
obtura/2S  bursa;;^ :  ne  satisfacia/zt  vel  restitua/2t.  Et  recte  sicut  nititur 
obturare  aures  ne  audia/^t  legem  vel  utilia."  (Bromyard,  Summa 
F?-aedicantium,  A,  XXVI.,  10.) 

The  story  is  printed  by  Migne,  Fatr.  Curs.  L^at.,  LXXXIIL,  col. 
765.  The  preacher  is  here  the  Abbot  Macharius,  and  he  saw  more 
than  one  fiend,  ^'  pueros  Aethiopes  nigros."  A  similar  version  occurs 
in  the  Alphabetum  Narrationum  of  Etienne  de  Besangon  (-(-1294), 
MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  159 13,  fol.  65(a).  This  is  referred  to  Vitae  Fat- 
rum.  A  short  version  is  also  given,  fol.  12(b),  which  refers  to 
Jacques  de  Vitry.     This  attribution,  however,  seems  to  be  false. 

An  English  version  of  the  story  is  found  in  Jacob's  Well  (ed. 
Brandeis),  chap.  XXXVII..,  which  follows  but  does  not  refer  to  the 
Vitae  Fatrum.  Curiously,  the  devils  are  described  as  "  feendys  smale 
as  chylderyn,  blewe  as  men  of  Inde. ' ' 

(27)  Saint  Edmund  and  the  Devil : 

We  find  written  in  his  life  that  St.  Edmund  was  a  holy  and  good 
man,  but  that  God  suffered  the  foul  fiend  to  tempt  him.  Once  while 
he  was  in  bed  and  was  saying  his  private  prayers,  the  devil  fell  upon 
him  and  held  him  so  that  he  could  move  neither  hand  nor  tongue. 
But  the  saint  thought  of  Christ's  passion  and  so  made  the  fiend  disappear. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  6l 

The  original  of  this  legend  is  in  the  life  of  St.  Edmund  the  Con- 
fessor, by  Bertrand  of  Pontigny,  which  was  printed  by  Martene  in  the 
third  volume  of  Thesaurus  Anecdotorum.  Edmund  was  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  from  1233  till  his  death  in  1240.  Bertrand' s  life  is  said 
to  have  been  written  in  1247.  This  legend  is  found  (ed.  Martene), 
p.  1 791.  After  a  long  night  of  study  the  saint  went  to  bed  a  little 
before  dawn,  when  the  devil  fell  upon  him  and  held  both  hands  so 
that  he  could  not  cross  himself.     But  he  prayed  in  spirit  and  so  escaped. 

A  short  Latin  version  is  given  by  Bromyard,  Summa  Fraedicantium, 
P,  II,  26,  and  referred  to  the  Vita.  In  the  Early  South- English 
Legendary^  ed.  Horstmann,  p.  439,  under  a  life  of  the  saint,  the 
legend  is  told  differently.  While  at  Oxford  he  fell  asleep  over  a  book 
one  day  and  so  ceased  to  think  of  the  passion  as  was  his  continual 
wont.     The  rest  of  the  story  is  the  same. 

(28)   Theobald  and  the  Leper  : 

The  earl  Theobald  lived  beyond  the  sea  where  he  founded  near 
Blois  the  abbey  of  Clairvaux,  a  rich  house  full  of  wise  monks.  This 
earl  dispossessed  a  knight  of  his  lands  and  so  was  cursed  of  God. 
Once  as  he  rode  out  of  town  he  found  a  leper  by  the  roadside  and 
took  such  pity  on  him  that  he  promised  him  food  and  clothing  as  long 
as  he  should  live.  The  leper  lived  long  in  the  house  which  the  earl 
provided  and  was  fed  by  Theobald's  alms.  At  length  he  died,  and 
soon  after  him  the  earl.  After  their  death  a  monk  of  Clairvaux  saw 
them  in  a  dream  and  after  this  fashion.  A  multitude  of  souls  drew  to 
judgment.  On  a  high  seat  beside  Christ  was  the  leper,  now  radiant 
and  beautiful,  and  he  talked  with  Christ  as  with  a  dear  companion  be- 
cause he  had  suffered  on  earth  without  complaint.  Before  them  two 
black  dogs  dragged  the  earl  who  was  challenged  as  a  felon  because  he 
had  disinherited  that  knight,  and  he  was  doomed  to  .-hell.  But  the 
leper  told  Christ  hbw  Theobald  had  cared  for  him  and  besought  his 
release.  Christ  was  moved  by  the  tale  and  commanded  to  lead  the 
earl  to  purgatory.      So  he  was  saved  by  the  leper's  prayer. 

This  story  is  connected  with  another  story  of  Theobald  and  a  leper 
first  told  in  the  collection  of  exempla  ascribed  to  Jacques  de  Vitry 
which  are  contained  in  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  181 34.  It  occurs  as  no. 
70  of  the  collection,  fol.  203(a).  The  story  is  this  :  ' •' Theobaldus, 
comes  Campanie  ' '  was  accustomed  to  visit  a  leper  who  lived  by  him- 
self in  a  little  house.  Once  as  the  knight  passed  by  he  went  in  to  see 
his  friend  and  found  him  healed  and  radiant.     The  former  leper  told 


62  G.    H.    GEROULD 

him  that  he  would  find  mercy  in  heaven  on  account  of  his  goodness. 
The  knight  went  out,  heard  from  his  followers  that  the  leper  had  been 
dead  many  months,  and  returning  found  nothing  in  the  house  but  a 
sweet  odor.  In  the  Spent lum  Morale,  lib.  III.,  dist.  XXV.,  parsx., 
and  in  Besan^on's^^/^.  Narr.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  159 13,  fol.  50(a), 
is  the  same  story  except  that  the  name  is  omitted.  The  man  simply 
called  "  Comes  Campaniae  devotus. " 

Thomas  Cantipratanus  (f  1260-80),  Bonimi  Universale  de  Apibus 
(ed.  1627),  p.  254,  gives  two  stories  concerning  ^ '  Theobaldus,  Comes 
Carnotensium  ac  Elesensium."  (i)  On  the  authority  of  Comitissa 
Carnotensium  ac  Blesensium.  The  knight  one  wintry  day  met  a 
beggar  to  whom  he  gave  his  cloak.  But  the  beggar  vanished  just  be- 
fore he  was  to  take  the  mantle.  (2)  The  story  of  the  leper  as  in  the 
Jacques  de  Vitry  collection,  except  that  the  leper  is  said  to  have  lived 
on  the  road  between  Chartres  and  Blois  and  that  the  knight  did  not 
return  to  the  house. 

A  variant,  briefly  told,  is  found  in  Jacob' s  Well,  chap.  XXXIX. 
(ed.  Brandeis,  p.  247).  "  Theobaldus  an  erle  "  used  to  wash  a 
leper's  feet.  After  the  latter' s  death  he  washed  '']>e  feet  of  crist 
clothid  lyche  \e  lepre. ' '  When  he  had  finished  he  smelled  a  sweet 
odor,  went  outside  the  house,  and  learning  the  truth  praised  God. 

The  connection  between  this  story  and  ours  is,  of  course,  somewhat 
vague.  Both,  however,  concern  a  Theobald,  a  knight  of  Blois,  who 
was  blessed  for  his  kindness  to  a  leper.  It  may  be  that  our  author, 
who  was  not  without  imagination,  constructed  the  legend  on  the  basis 
of  that  told  by  Cantipratanus.  Or  again  our  story  may  be  a  variant  of 
that  one  which  had  reached  him  by  oral  tradition  or,  less  probably,  by 
some  legendary.  In  any  case,  the  version  of  Cantipratanus  has  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  the  original  legend  in  form,  though  not  so  old  as 
that  of  Jacques  de  Vitry. 

(29)  The  Monk  who  Prayed  to  See  the  Joys  of  Heaven. 

A  holy  monk  had  great  yearning  to  see  in  life  some  token  of  the 
least  joy  that  is  in  heaven.  When  he  was  old  and  was  made  free  of 
convent  work,  he  sat  one  morning  in  the  cloisters  after  prime  when  the 
brothers  had  gone  forth  to  work.  And  he  saw  a  bird  beside  him 
which  he  tried  to  catch.  When  it  flew  away  he  followed  it  to  the 
gate  and  into  a  wood  that  was  there.  At  last  it  perched  upon  a  bough 
and  began  to  sing.  The  song  was  so  sweet  that  the  monk  thought  he 
would  not  go  back  till  the  bird  had  ceased.  When  the  song  was  fin- 
ished, thinking  that  it  was  time  for  ' '  undrone  ' '   to  ring  in  the  abbey, 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  63 

he  went  home  to  meet  the  brothers  in  the  church.  He  found  the 
convent  walls  moss-grown  ;  and  he  found  no  gate  where  he  had  come 
out,  but  a  new  gate  elsewhere  and  a  porter  whom  he  had  never  seen. 
The  porter  asked  him  who  he  was.  He  replied  that  he  was  a  monk 
who  had  just  gone  out  to  the  wood.  The  porter  said  :  **  I  knawe  you 
nojt. ' '  The  monk  thought  this  strange  and  asked  the  name  of  the 
abbey,  and  the  porter  told  him.  The  monk  found  that  new  houses 
had  been  built  and  wished  to  go  to  the  church.  So  the  porter  clad 
him  in  a  cowl  and  led  him  to  the  church.  Then  the  prior  called  him 
to  the  parlour  and  asked  his  name.  He  told  his  story,  and  he  said  he 
saw  no  monk  nor  frair  that  he  had  known.  The  prior  asked  him  who 
was  abbot  went  he  went  out.  He  told  the  name.  They  searched  in 
books  and  found  that  the  abbot  whom  he  named  had  died  three  hun- 
dred years  before.  Also  they  found  written  in  the  chronicle  how  a 
monk  had  gone  out  and  had  never  been  seen  again.  So  they  knew 
that  this  was  he.  Again  he  told  his  tale,  was  houselled,  and  gave  up 
the  ghost. 

This  legend  which  has  been  widely  narrated  in  the  course  of  many 
centuries  appears  to  come  originally  from  the  annals  of  the  Abbey  of 
Afflinghem,  near  Malines,  in  the  time  of  the  Abbot  Fulgentius,  who 
flourished  toward  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century.  Liebrecht  in 
John  Dunlof  s  Geschichte  der  Prosadictungen  (ed.  185 1,  p.  543)  re- 
prints from  Prudent  van  Duyse's  Vaderlandsche  Poezy  (vol.  I.,  p.  202), 
the  Latin  original,  which  is  stated  to  come  from  a  MS.  of  Afflinghem. 
It  begins:  '^Eodem  tempore  (circa  finem  XL  saeculi)  ut  fertur, 
accidisset  Fulgentio  (primo  Abbati  Hafflighemi)  mirabilis  historia : 
admonitus  enim  a  fratribus  illis  adesse  peregrinum  sed  venerabilem 
monachum,  qui  se  illius  monasterii  fratrem  affirmabat,  introduci  fecit 
ilium. ' '  The  story  proceeds  with  the  narrative  of  the  old  monk  who 
said  that  the  morning  before,  after  matins,  he  had  remained  in  the 
choir  meditating  on  the  mystery  of  the  words  :  ' '  Mille  anni  ante  oculos 
tuos  tamquam  dies  hesterna  quae  pf aeterit. ' '  A  little  bird  appeared 
to  him.  Charmed  with  its  song  he  followed  it  outside  the  monastery 
and  into  the  forest  where  he  had  remained  till  then.  Returning 
home  he  found  everything  changed.  And  when  Fulgentius  asked 
about  his  abbot  and  feudal  lords  it  was  found  that  all  had  been  dead 
three  hundred  years.     So  the  monk  was  houselled  and  died. 

The  version  of  the  legend  which  is  nearest  this  in  age  is  that  of 
Maurice    de    Sully   (fii96)   in  a    sermon    for  Dominica  tertia  post 


64  G.    H.    GEROULD 

pascha,  ed.  Chambery,  1484.  (M.  Paul  Meyer  has  also  printed  part 
of  the  story  by  Maurice,  from  several  MSS.,  in  Rojnania,  V.,  p.  473.) 
This  version  varies  from  the  preceding  in  the  following  points  :  it  tells 
the  story  picturesquely  from  the  general  point  of  view,  not  from  that 
of  an  annalist;  it  does  not  mention  the  monk's  old  age  ;  he  was  in 
the  cloisters,  not  the  chapel,  when  the  bird  came  to  him ;  the  bird 
was  an  angel  in  disguise ;  the  monk  returned  to  the  abbey  about  mid- 
day; the  monk's  death  is  not  mentioned. 

Like  the  version  of  Sully,  but  shorter,  is  that  of  Eude  de  Cheriton, 
in  a  sermon  for  Dom.  IV.  post  Pasche  (quoted  by  P.  Meyer,  Contes 
Moralises  de  Nicole  de  Bozon,  p.  267).  It  must  be  independent,  how- 
ever, for  "the  monk  is  here  represented  as  old.  Moreover,  Eude  de 
Cheriton  was  but  little  later  in  date  than  Maurice  de  Sully. 

Most  like  the  version  quoted  by  Liebrecht  is  one  found  in  the  Mag- 
fium  Speculum  Exemplorum  (Douai,  1603),  dist.  IX.,  ex.  55,  p.  614. 
It  is  headed,  vaguely  enough,  * '  Legitur  in  libro  exemplorum, ' '  but  is 
certainly  a  derivative,  though  perhaps  in  the  second  degree,  of  that  story. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  version  of  John  Herolt  in  Sermones  de  Tem- 
pore^ sermo  LXXXIV.,  is  again  a  derivative  of  Sully.  In  this  the 
monk  is  stated  to  have  been  absent  for  three  hundred  and  forty  years. 
In  an  account  of  Herolt,  Prof.  Crane  gives  a  translation  of  this  (^Medi- 
eval Serinon- Books,  p.  74).  The  remaining  Latin  version  which  I 
have  found,  that  of  John  Bromyard,  Summa  Praedicantium,  G,  I.,  15, 
gives  the  story  in  barest  outline. 

The  version  of  Nicole  de  Bozon,  Contes  Moralises,  ed.  Smith  and 
Meyer,  no.  90,  p.  112,  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Met.  Horn,  but  in 
much  less  detail.  The  two  probably  come  from  some  collection  of 
stories  in  Latin  which  circulated  in  England  during  the  14th  cen- 
tury. This  seems  more  probable  than  that  Bozon  changed  the  account 
by  Fulgentius,  and  that  our  author  saw  Bozon' s  work,  though  that  is 
possible  (see  no.  31). 

The  distinctively  German  version  of  the  story  is  that  printed  by  von 
der  Hagen,  Gesam?ntal?enteuer,  no.  XC.  (vol.  III.,  p.  613).  In 
this  form  the  monk  is  named  Felix  and  belonged  to  the  gray  monks. 
He  was  absent  from  the  abbey  fully  one  hundred  years.  This  metrical 
and  distinctly  poetical  version,  which  differs  in  many  details  from  all 
the  other  examples,  was  the  source  of  H.  W.  Longfellow's  story  of  the 
Monk  Felix  in  his  Golden  Legend  (chap.  II.).  The  version  of 
Pauh's  Schimpf  und  Ernst,  ed.  CEsterley,  no.  562,  conforms  rather  to 
the  ordinary  type,  such  as  that  of  Spec.  Exemp. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  65 

Professor  Rhys  {Celtic  Folklore,  p.  155  ff. )  regards  the  tale  as 
simply  an  ecclesiastical  variant  of  the  common  story  of  a  sojourner  in 
fairy  land.  I  copy  his  remark,  though  it  seems  at  least  possible,  con- 
sidering the  wide  popularity  of  the  story  on  the  Continent,  that  he 
may  be  wrong  in  his  treatment  of  the  folk-tale  as  connected  with  the 
monkish  story.  ' '  This  latter  kind  of  story  leads  easily  up  to  another 
development,  namely,  to  substituting  for  the  bird's  warble  the  song 
and  felicity  of  heaven,  and  for  the  simple  shepherd  a  pious  monk.  In 
this  form  it  is  located  at  a  place  called  Llwyn  y  Nef,  or  Heaven's 
Grove,  near  Celynnog  Fawr,  in  Carnarvonshire.  It  is  given  by 
Glasynys  in  Cymru  Fu,  pp.  183-4,  where  it  was  copied  from  the 
Brython,  III.,  iii,  in  which  he  had  previously  published  it.  Several 
versions  of  it  in  rhyme  came  down  from  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
Silvan  Evans  has  brought  together  twenty-six  stanzas  in  point  in  Si. 
David's  College  Magazine  iox  1881,  pp.  191-200." 

(30)  The  Mother  who  Prayed  Christ  in  Behalf  of  her  Sons  :  Biblical. 

(31)  Carpus  : 

A  Christian  priest  named  Carpus  was  so  zealous  for  Jesus  that  he  was 
angry  with  those  who  spoke  against  Christ  and  stood  stiffly  in  the  fight 
with  His  enemies.  In  those  days  the  church  was  new  and  few  believed. 
It  happened  then  that  an  evil  man  made  a  Christian  go  astray.  And 
Carpus  was  so  angry  that  he  prayed  that  both  should  have  some  mis- 
hap. Christ  heard  the  prayer  and  sent  sickness  upon  the  two.  Then 
in  sleep  Carpus  saw  the  two  lying  on  a  crag  at  the  mouth  of  hell,  and 
he  was  well  pleased.  He  prayed  :  '' A  Jesus,  late  ]?aim  fall."  Jesus 
said  to  him  that  he  had  died  for  them  and  counselled  Carpus  to  char- 
ity. So  he  woke  and  with  changed  purpose  went  to  the  two  and 
brought  them  to  amendment,  so  that  they  died  as  Christians. 

This  story  of  Carpus  comes  from  a  letter  written  by  Dionysius 
Areopagitus,  to  Demophilus,  printed  as  epist.  8,  Acta  Sanct.,  Mai, 
tom.  VI.,  die  26,  p.  356.  The  erring  man  in  this  form  of  the  legend 
(and,  indeed,  in  all  the  examples  of  it  save  that  in  Met.  Horn.),  was 
a  convert  of  Carpus' .  Dionysius,  the  reputed  author,  is  not  to  be  con- 
fused with  Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria. 

The  story  is  found  in  Le  Manuel  des  Pechiez,  by  William  of  Wad- 
ington,  and  in  Handlyng  Synne,  by  Robert  of  Brunne  (ed.  Furnivall, 
p.  164).  The  translation  differs  from  its  French  original  in  making 
Carpus  pray  for  the  damnation  of  the  man  who  was  led  astray  only. 
It  refers  the  legend  to  '^  Seynt  Dynys  of  France,"  who  was  identified 


66  G.    H.    GEROULD 

with  Dionysius,  the  Areopagite,  as  early  as  the  IX.  century.  Johannes 
Scotus,  in  the  course  of  that  century,  in  the  preface  to  his  translation 
ot  the  works  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite  has  this  notice:  '*Hunc 
eundem  quoque  non  prefati  viri,  sed  alii  moderni  temporis  asserunt, 
quantum  vita  ejus  a  fidelibus  viris  tradita  testatur,  temporibus  Papae 
dementis,  successoris  videlicet  Petri  apostoli,  Romam  venisse,  et  ab  eo 
praedicandi  Evangelii  gratia  in  partes  Galliarum  directum  fuisse,  et 
Parisii  martyrii  gloria  coronatum  fuisse  cum  beatissimis  suis  consortibus. 
Rustico  scilicet  atque  Eleutherio. "  ^  (  Migne,  Fa^.  Cttrs.  Lat. ,  CXXIL , 
col.  1032). 

Perhaps  the  foundation  of  our  version  is  that  of  Nicole  de  Bozon, 
Contes  Moralises,  no.  79,  p.  98.  This  is,  however,  pure  conjecture, 
for  there  is  no  certain  evidence  that  our  author  knew  Bozon' s  works. 

(32)   The  Melancholy  King  and  his  Brother  : 

I  find  written  of  a  king  that  he  would  never  laugh.  His  brother 
once  asked  him  why  he  was  so  sorrowful  and  he  replied  that  he  would 
answer  on  the  next  day.  There  was  a  custom  in  the  land  that  when  a 
man  was  to  be  executed  trumpeters  should  blow  before  his  door.  So 
in  the  morning  the  king  had  horns  blown  before  his  brother's  door. 
The  brother  wept,  for  he  did  not  know  why  he  should  be  doomed. 
The  king  came  to  him  and  asked  him  why  he  was  so  sad.  He  said 
that  he  could  not  be  happy  since  he  had  heard  the  trumpets  of  death. 
Then  the  king  replied  that  he  too  could  not  be  happy,  because  he  knew 
that  death  would  overtake  him. 

This  story  belongs  to  a  group,  or  rather  a  widely  distributed  family, 
which  have  united  in  a  remarkable  number  of  combinations  an  anec- 
dote from  Barlaam  and  Josaphat  and  the  tale  which  we  know  as  The 
Sword  of  Damocles.  The  former,  as  given  by  Johannes  Damascenus,  is 
as  follows:  A  king  accompanied  by  his  escort  meets  two  beggars. 
He  kneels  to  them  because  they  are  holy.  The  nobles  murmur,  and 
the  king's  brother  protests.  That  evening  horns  are  blown  before  the 
brother's  gate,  which  is  the  sign  that  he  is  condemned  to  death.  The 
brother  passes  the  night  in  fear  and  in  the  morning  is  haled  before  the 
king.  The  latter  asks  him  why  he  fears  and  then  tells  him  that  if  he 
fears  so  muclj  the  horns  sent  by  his  brother  he  ought  not  to  wonder  if 
others  fear  death  all  the  time.  He  then  has  two  caskets  brought,  one 
fair  outside  and  rotten  within,  the  other  plain  but  filled  with  riches. 
Of  these  he  bids  his  nobles  choose.  The  story  of  Damocles  is  too  well 
known  to  need  narration. 

1  For  this  reference  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  W.  H.  Stevenson. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  67 

On  the  basis  of  these  two  original  stories  certain  modifications  crept 
into  the  narratives.  They  were  told  either  separately  or  in  combina- 
tion. Sometimes  the  beggars  were  not  mentioned,  but  a  certain  mel- 
ancholy king  disciplined  his  brother.  Again,  the  idea  of  the  sus- 
pended sword  was  enlarged,  and  the  king's  speech  to  his  brother  was 
strengthened  by  having  him  apply  four  swords  (or,  since  the  number 
varies,  simply  swords)  to  his  brother's  body.  Again,  the  story  of  the 
caskets  was  detached  from  the  rest  and  became  the  parent  of  the 
* '  Casket  Scene  ' '  in  The  Merchant  of  Venice. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  analyze  each  story  separately.  It  is  both 
simpler  and  clearer  to  make  a  schedule  which  shall  show  the  relation 
of  each  to  the  general  group.  The  following  are  the  references  to 
the  stories  which  I  have  been  able  to  examine  : 

1 .  Johannes  Damascenus,  Barlaam  and  Josaphat,  trans,  into  Latin 

by  Billius  (Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIII.,  col.  462). 

2.  Vincent  of  Beauvais,   Spec.   Hist.,  lib.   XV.,   cap.    10    (see  also 

Magnu7n  Spec.  Exemp.  (Douai,  1603),  p.  253). 

3.  Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  CLXXX.  (Barlaam  and 

Josaphat)  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  814). 
.4.   Jean  de  Vignay,  Legende  Doree,  fol.  233(b). 

5.  De  Conde,  Li  Dis  Doit  Roi  et  Des  Hiermittes  (ed.  Scheler,  vol. 

II.,  p.  63). 

6.  Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Celi,  De  judicio  extremo,  fol.  95(b). 

7.  Jacques  de  Vitry  (ascribed),  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  18134,  fol.  196(a). 
3.   Etienne  de  Besan^on,  Alpha  Narr.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  159 13, 

fol.  47(a). 
9.   MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Add.  11 284,  fol.  27(b). 
TO.   Spec.  Morale,  lib.  II.,  dist.  V.,  pars  II. 

11.  Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Cell,  De  judicio  extremo,  fol.  95(b)  (not 

the  same  as  6). 

12.  Gesta  Romanorum  (ed.  Oesterley,  p.  498). 

13.  John  Bromyard,  Summa  Praedicantium,  H,  L,  22. 

14.  John  Herolt,  Sermones  de  Tempore,  no.  53,  p.  317. 

15.  Jacobus  Well,  chap.  XXXIV.  (ed.  Brandeis,  p.  220). 

16.  Paraldus,  Summa  Virt.   ac   Vit.,  lib.  I.,   fol.    143   (b),    and  lib. 

II.,  fol.  18(a). 

17.  Met.  Horn. 

18.  Jacques  de  Vitry  (ascribed),  MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Add.  26770,  fol.  75(b). 

19.  Jacques  de  Vitry  (ed.  Crane,  exem.  XLIL,  p.  151). 

20.  Eude  de  Cheriton,    Fabulae  (ed.   Hervieux,    Fabulistes  Latins, 

IV.,  p.  294). 


68  G.    H.    GEROULD 

21.  Wright,  Latin  Stories,  no.  CIIL,  p.  92. 

22.  Bozon,  Contes  Moralises  (ed.  Smith  and  Meyer,  p.  59). 

23.  Cicero,  Tusculum,  lib.  V.,  cap.  XXL 

24.  Boethius,  Cons.  Phil.,  III.,  Pr.  V. 

25.  Spec.  Morale,  lib.  II.,  dist.  IV.,  pars  I. 

26.  Holkot,  Opus  sup.  Sap.  Salomonis,  lectio  LXX. 

27.  Jacques  de  Vitry  (ed.  Crane,  ex.  VIII.). 

28.  **         ''       ''      (  "        "■      ex.  XLVII.). 

29.  fitienne  de  Besangon,  Alph.  Narr.,   MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  15913, 

fol.  46(b). 
Now,  taking  these  stories  as  a  whole,  we  find  that  they  contain  six 
essential  points  which  are  distributed  in  various  ways  among  the  dif- 
ferent members.  These  points  are  :  (a)  The  incident  of  the  beggars ; 
(b)  a  melancholy  king  reproached  (usually  but  not  always  by  his 
brother)  ;  (c)  horns  blown  outside  the  gates  of  the  brother's  palace  as 
a  signal  of  death ;  (d)  swords  placed  against  the  sides  of  the  man 
whom  the  king  is  going  to  instruct ;  (e)  a  sword  suspended  for  same 
purpose;   (f)  the  incident  of  the  caskets. 

(Nos.  represent  stories  in  preceding  list), 
(a)  Beggars,      (b)  Melancholy     (c)  Horns     (d)  Swords     (e)  Swords     (f)  Casket.. 
King.  blown.  applied.         suspended. 

II  I 


2 

2 

2 

3 

3 

3 

4 

4 

4 

5 
6 

5 

6 

5 
6 

7 
8 

8 

7 

9 

9 

10 

II 

10 

10 

II 

12 

12 

12 

13 

13 

13 

14 

14 

14 

;i 

16 

15 

15 

17 

18 

17 

18 

19 

19 

19 

20 

20 

20 

21 

21 

21 

22 

22 

22 

23 
24 

25 
26 

27 

28 
29 

NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  69 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  story  of  the  Met.  Horn,  has  but  one  close 
counterpart,  that  of  Guilielmus  Paraldus  in  the  Summa  Virtutum  ac 
Vitiorum.  As  Paraldus  died  in  1275  and  his  collection  was  well 
known,  this  is  the  probable  source  of  our  story.  It  is,  however,  closely 
connected  with  (19),  (20),  (21),  and  (22),  since  the  incident  of 
the  swords  related  in  those  might  easily  drop  off.  (In  connection 
with  Paraldus,  it  should  be  noted  that  Qx^n^,  Jacques  de  Vitry,  p.  151, 
stigmatizes  the  references  of  Oesterley  in  Gesta  Rom.,  p.  736,  to  Par- 
aldus and  Herolt  as  incorrect.  Oesterley  is,  of  course,  in  the  right. 
It  is  impossible  to  imagine  what  editions  Prof.  Crane  consulted. ) 

(33)  The  Obedient  Servant: 

A  hermit  in  the  desert  thus  proved  the  obedience  of  his  servant. 
He  bade  him  put  a  dry  bough  in  the  earth  and  water  it  till  it  brought 
forth  flowers  and  fruit.  The  good  disciple  watered  it  every  day  for 
three  years,  bringing  water  from  a  distance.  At  last  God  made  the  tree 
bear  apples  such  that  none  were  fairer  in  the  world.  The  hermit  took 
some  of  the  apples  to  an  abbey  which  was  near  and  bade  the  monks 
eat  them  that  they  might  know  the  power  of  obedience. 

This  moral  tale  appears  in  two  collections  of  Latin  exempla,  one  of 
the  XIII.  and  one  of  XIV.  cent.  In  the  Alphabetum  Narrationuin  of 
Etienne  de  Besangon  (MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  15913,  fol.  63(a))  the 
fact  is  particularized  that  the  servant  brought  water  from  a  distance  of 
two  miles,  and  also  that  the  dry  stick  flowered  on  the  third  year. 
Bromyard,  in  his  Summa  Praedicantium,  O,  I.  5,  gives  the  simple 
anecdote  as  in  the  Met.  Horn.  It  also  appears  in  Caxton's  Vitas 
Fatrum,  fol.  321. 

(34)  Taysis: 

There  was  a  woman  of  ill -fame  named  Taysis  who  slew  many  souls 
by  her  fairness.  A  hermit  named  Pannonye  who  lived  near  came  and 
gave  her  twelve  pence  that  he  might  sin  with  her.  She  led  him  to  a 
fair  chamber,  but  he  told  her  that  it  was  not  secret  enough.  Then 
she  led  him  by  the  hand  into  another,  where  she  said  none  but  God 
could  see  them,  from  whom  nothing  was  hid.  Pannonye  asked  her  if 
she  believed  that  God  saw  everything.  She  said  she  did.  Then  the 
hermit  asked  her  if  she  was  not  afraid  to  sin  as  she  did,  since  she  knew 
that  it  would  bring  her  to  hell.  She  fell  to  her  knees  and  cried  for 
mercy.  Her  penance  is  too  long  for  me  to  tell  here,  but  briefly  she 
gave  her  soul  to  God. 


70 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


The  original  of  the  Thaisis  legend  is  in  the  Vitae  Patrum  (Migne, 
Pair.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIIL,  col.  66i),  which  narrates  the  conversion 
of  the  harlot  Thaisis  of  Egypt  by  the  hermit  Paphnutius.  Thaisis  be- 
came a  revered  saint  and  her  conversion  is  only  one  incident  of  the 
life  as  related  in  the  Vitae  Patru7ti.  In  this  account  the  hermit  paid 
her  one  soHdus,  and  they  entered  but  one  room.  After  conversion  she 
burned  her  possessions  to  the  value  of  forty  pounds.  The  same  is 
given  in  the  Acta  Sanct.,  Oct.,  tom.  IV.,  die  8,  p.  224. 

Jacques  de  Vitry  (ed.  Crane,  no.  CCLVIL,  p.  108)  gives  a  ver- 
sion which  differs  from  that  of  the  Met.  Horn.,  in  making  Thaisis  lead 
the  hermit  to  a  third  room.  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.,  lib. 
XIV.,  cap.  77,  refers  the  story  to  Jerome  (quite  without  justification 
as  far  as  I  can  find  out)  ;  and  Thaisis  is  said  to  have  come  to  her 
position  through  the  influence  of  her  mother.  In  Spec.  Morale,  lib. 
I.,  dist.  XXVII.  Paphnutius  is  led  through  several  chambers  and 
Thaisis  burns  property  to  the  value  ''  400  librarum  auri."  Jacobus  a 
Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  CLII.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  677),  refers 
the  story  to  Vitae  Patrum,  but  as  in  Spec.  Morale  the  saint  is  led 
through  several  rooms.  Jean  de  Vignay,  in  Legende  Doree,  fol. 
197(b),  does  not  change  the  story  of  his  original.  It  is  also  given  by 
Etienne  de  Besangon,  Alph.  Narr.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  159 13,  fol. 
2(a),  who  refers  it  to  the  Vitae  Pat.,  and  to  the  time  of  Emperor 
Valentian  by  the  anonymous  compiler  of  a  so-called  Jacques  de  Vitry 
collection  in  MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Add.  26770,  fol.  77(b),  as  no.  25  ;  and 
twice  by  John  Herolt,  Sermones  Quad.,  sermo  33,  and  Pro??ipt. 
Exemp.,  M,  ex.  28. 

Of  the  English  versions,  that  of  the  so-called  Barbour' s  Legend  Col- 
lection {^d.  Horstmann,  II.,  p.  79;  Metcalfe,  II.,  p.  215),  follows 
closely  the  Legenda  Aurea.  More  like  the  example  from  the  Met. 
Horn.,  is  that  oi Jacob' s  Well,  chap.  III.  (ed.  Brandeis,  p.  22)  which 
is  ascribed  to  the  Vitae  Patrum.  It  resembles  our  version  in  making 
the  hermit  pay  twelve  pence  instead  of  the  penny  of  the  original,  but 
it  does  not  speak  of  the  bloodshed  which  Thaisis  caused.  Probably 
both  it  and  our  version  were  taken  from  some  Vitae  Patrum,  instead  of 
from  Voragine.  Caxton  in  his  Vitas  Patrum  follows  the  Latin  arrange- 
ment closely. 

(35)  The  Hermit  and  the  Angel : 

In  the  wilderness  a  hermit  found  a  dead  man's  body  and  wished  for 
someone  to  help  him  bury  it.  God  sent  him  an  angel  in  human  form. 
The  hermit  held  his  nose  because  of  the  stink  of  the  corpse,  and  he 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION 


71 


thought  it  odd  that  the  angel  did  not  notice  the  odor  but  handled  the 
body  as  a  woman  does  her  child.  When  they  had  done,  there  came 
riding  by  a  fair  young  man  with  a  hawk  in  his  hand  and  singing  like 
a  man  at  ease.  Then  the  angel  held  his  nose  and  complained  of  the 
smell.  The  hermit  marvelled  and  said  he  smelled  nothing  now  though 
he  had  been  oppressed  by  the  stink  of  the  corpse.  The  angel  an- 
swered that  the  youth  had  so  defiled  himself  with  lechery  that  he  who 
was  the  angel  of  God  could  not  endure  the  smell,  but  that  the  dead 
man  had  been  holy  and  so  had  no  "  ghostly  "  smell.  Then  the  angel 
bade  the  hermit  goodday  and  disappeared. 

This  legend  appears  in  three  different  versions,  distinguished  by 
these  characteristics  :  in  A.  a  hermit  who  is  walking  in  the  desert  sees 
that  he  is  accompanied  by  two  (sometimes  one)  angels;  in  B.  an 
angel  calls  upon  a  hermit  to  help  him  bury  a  pilgrim  slain  by  thieves ; 
in  C.  the  hermit  finds  the  body  and  calls  upon  God  for  help,  when  the 
angel  appears. 

Vitae  Patrum,  lib.  VI.  (Migne,  Pair.  Curs. 

Lat,  LXXIIL,  col.  1014). 
Speculum  ■  Morale,    lib.    III.,    dist.    XIX., 

pars  III. 
Bromyard,  Summa  Praedicantuwi,  M,  XIII., 

is- 
A.   -!  Johannes  Junior,  Sea  la    Celt,    De  peccato, 

fol.  132(b). 


I .  Two  angels  : 


2 .   One  angel : 


Etienne  de  Besangon,   Alpha  Narr.,  MS. 

Bib.  Nat.  lat.  159 13,  fol.  9(b). 
Jacob's    Well,    chap.     XI.    (ed.    Bran  dels, 

.      P-  74)- 


'  Jacques  de  Vitry,  Exempla,  ed.  Crane,  p.  48. 
Eude   de   Cheriton,   Sermones  super  Evangeliis  Doniinicalibus, 
for  Dom.  V.,  post  Nat.  (Hervieux,  Fabtdistes  Latins,  IV.,  p. 

275)- 
Wright,  Latin  Stories,  no.  CXLVI.,  p.   132    (from  MS.   Harl. 

463,  fol.  7(b)). 
MS.  Brit.   Mus.  Add.  26770,  fol.  78(a),  no.  32  in  a  so-called 
Jacques  de  Vitry  coll. 
I  Magnum  Spec.  Exemp.  (Douai,  1603),  dist.  ix.,  ex.  18,  p.  672. 


72 


C. 


G.    H.    GEROULD 

MS.  Bib.  Nat.   lat.    18134,  fol.    204(b)   (no.  75  of  a  so-called 

Jacques  de  Vi try  coll. ). 
Traite  de  Devotion,  ed.   Cornu,  Romania,   XI.,  p.   387    (XIV. 

century  Portuguese). 
Met.  Horn. 


It  should  be  explained,  however,  that  the  version  of  the  Vitae  Patrum 
varies  from  all  the  others  in  leaving  out  the  fair  youth  who  passed  by. 
The  angels  informed  the  hermit  that  they  held  their  noses  on  account 
of  him  rather  than  on  account  of  the  corpse.  The  question  of  the  im- 
mediate source  of  our  version  is  not  easy  to  resolve.  It  is  true  that 
the  reversal  in  taking  the  initiative  from  angel  to  hermit  would  easily 
come  to  pass.  Yet  there  are  three  widely  separated  versions  where 
this  took  place.  Must  one  conclude  that  these  three  had  a  common 
origin,  or  that  the  change  took  place  independently  ?  At  all  events, 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  our  legend  comes,  though  perhaps  not  directly, 
from  the  example  of  the  pseudo -Jacques  de  Vitry. 

(36)  The  Story  of  Creation  :   Biblical. 

(37)  The  Monk  who  was  Harsh  in  Judging : 

Two  monks  were  living  in  a  cell,  and  one  of  them  saw  a  young  man 
eat  early  on  Friday.  He  judged  the  young  man  to  be  evil  because  he 
did  so.  Now  this  monk  was  holy  and  good.  His  fellow  had  spiritual 
sight  to  see  and  know  the  state  of  his  heart,  and  when  he  came  home 
he  saw  that  he  had  lost  his  grace.  He  asked  him  what  he  had  done 
to  make  God  wrath.  And  the  monk  answered  that  he  could  think  of 
no  great  sin.  His  fellow  asked  him  if  he  had  spoken  with  any  man. 
He  said  that  on  the  day  before  he  had  reproved  a  man  because  he  ate 
early,  thinking  that  on  Friday  he  might  remain  fasting  till  noon,  but 
that  perhaps  he  had  not  done  well,  because  he  did  not  feel  the  man's 
hunger.  So  the  two  prayed  that  God  forgive  him,  and  after  a  fort- 
night of  prayer  he  regained  the  grace  which  he  had  lost. 

I  have  found  this  version  only  in  Caxton's  Vitas  Patrum,  fol.  263, 
where  it  appears  in  a  disquisition  on  judging  one's  neighbors.  It  is, 
however,  similar  to  another  story  told  by  Robert  of  Brunne,  Handlyng 
Synne  (ed.  Furnivall,  p.  314)  which  he  took  from  Etienne  de  Besan- 
9on,  Alph.  Narr.  (MS.  Bib.  Nat.  lat.  15913,  no.  i).  A  parish 
priest  of  discretion  had  two  evil  parishioners.  He  asked  God  whether 
he  ought  to  forbid  them  the  sacrament.  God  replied  that  the  sin 
would  rest  on  the  evil-doers  but  granted  the  priest  the  power  of  seeing 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  73 

who  received  the  blessed  bread  worthily.  So  when  the  priest  went  to 
mass  he  saw  some  faces  radiant,  some  black,  some  red,  etc.  (William 
of  Wadington  does  not  give  this. ) 

(38)   The  Hermit  and  Saint  Oswald  : 

Stories  tell  us  that  of  old  in  England  there  were  seven  kings.  One 
of  them  lived  at  Bamborough  in  Northumberland,  whose  name  was 
Oswald  and  who  is  now  a  saint.  In  his  land  a  hermit  called  Goodman 
lived  beside  a  river.  When  he  had  lived  thus  for  thirty  years  the  her- 
mit thought  that  no  one  was  his  peer  in  holiness.  One  day  he  sat  on 
the  river  bank  and  watched  two  fishes  in  the  stream.  The  larger  was 
chasing  the  smaller  and  wished  to  eat  it.  The  smaller  one  besought 
the  greater  to  spare  it  for  the  sake  of  the  holy  hermit  who  was  sitting 
on  the  bank.  The  greater  refused,  but  when  the  other  asked  that  it 
be  spared  for  the  love  of  King  Oswald  the  request  was  granted.  The 
hermit  thought  it  wonderful  that  a  king  could  be  holier  than  he,  and 
so  he  set  out  toward  Bamborough.  Soon  he  met  the  King  who  leaped 
from  his  horse  and  asked  his  blessing.  The  hermit  told  what  he  had 
heard  from  the  fishes  and  asked  about  his  life.  The  King  disparaged 
his  holiness,  saying  that  he  lived  in  jollity  and  wealth  with  his  knights 
and  that  he  was  sinful.  The  hermit  said  that  was  impossible  and 
asked  that  he  might  know  something  of  his  life  in  order  to  take  ex- 
ample of  it.  So  Oswald  gave  the  hermit  a  ring  and  bade  him  take  it 
to  the  Queen  who  would  treat  him  as  she  was  wont  her  husband.  The 
hermit  was  graciously  received  by  the  Queen,  clad  in  fine  garments, 
and  seated  at  her  side  before  a  sumptuous  feast.  But  he  was  not 
allowed  to  eat  the  rich  food  brought  to  him,  for  it  was  given  to  the 
poor ;  and  he  turned  away  fasting  from  the  little  loaf  of  barley  bread 
which  was  set  before  him.  After  the  feast  he  was  put  to  bed  in  the 
Queen's  chamber.  She  kept  him  awake  by  kissing  and  embracing 
him  till  his  passions  rose.  Then  she  called  for  help,  and  he  was 
thrown  into  a  vat  of  cold  water  and  held  there  till  all  his  teeth  chat- 
tered. Again  he  was  laid  by  the  Queen  and  again  she  cried  for  help. 
This  time  he  was  dipped  in  "  flome  Jordane."  Three  times  that  night 
he  was  so  served  and  the  third  time  rolled  in  haircloth.  In  the  morn- 
ing the  Queen  called  him  and  asked  if  he  wished  to  be  used  longer  as 
was  the  King.  He  said,  'Mange  ynoghe  have  I  bene  kinge."  She 
told  him  that  probably  he  lived  more  at  ease  than  did  the  King,  for 
they  had  lived  long  in  virginity  by  these  means.  She  promised  the 
hermit,  moreover,  clothing  and  meat  as  long  as  they  should  live. 
Thankfully  he  went  his  way. 


y4  G.    H.    GEROULD 

This  legend  furnishes  a  curious  example  of  * '  grafting. ' '  An  anec- 
dote from  the  Vitce  Fatruf?i  became,  on  the  basis  of  one  word,  a  fad- 
liau  with  very  different  names  but  essential  similarity  of  events.  This 
story  in  turn  was  transferred  to  the  sainted  King  Oswald  of  Northum- 
berland. The  progress  from  one  form  to  another  I  have  not  been 
able  to  work  out  in  detail,  because  of  scanty  materials,  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt  of  the  general  truth  of  the  statement  as  made 
above. 

There  are  three  anecdotes  in  the  Vitce  Patrum  which  represent  holy 
men  enquiring  for  their  counterparts  in  holiness.  The  first  concerns 
St.  Macharius  (Migne,  Pat.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIIL,  col.  778)  who, 
wishing  to  know  his  peer  in  heaven,  is  told  that  two  women  far  excel 
him  in  goodness.  He  visits  them  and  finds  that  the  secret  of  their 
virtue  is  that  they  have  lived  in  perfect  obedience  to  their  husbands 
and  have  not  been  angry  once  in  fifteen  years.  This  story  is  told  by 
William  of  Wadington  and  Robert  of  Brunne  (ed.  Furnivall,  p.  62), 
who  increase  the  period  of  good-temper  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years. 
The  second  anecdote  (Migne,  LXXIII.,  col.  1006)  is  that  of  two  her- 
mits who  visit  Eucharistius  and  his  wife,  Maria.  The  third  anecdote 
is  the  ancestor  of  the  Oswald  legend  (Migne,  LXXIIL,  col.  1171). 
It  concerns  the  hermit  Paphnutius,  who  learns  from  heaven  that  a  cer- 
tain protocomes  (=  admiral,  cf.  Du  Cange)  is  superior  to  himself  in 
goodness.  He  visits  the  man  and  finds  him  living  in  prosperity  but 
severely. 

From  this  last  anecdote  to  the  old  French  fabliau,  ' '  Du  Prevost 
d'Aquilee  ou  d'un  Hermite  que  la  Dame  Fist  Baigner  en  Aigue 
Froide"  (Meon,  Nouveau  Pecueil,  11. ,  p.  187)  is  a  far  cry.  Yet  the 
essential  fact  remains  the  same.  The  story  runs  thus  :  A  hermit  who 
had  lived  long  in  solitude  learned -from  heaven  that  he  was  equalled  in 
goodness  by  the  Provost  of  Aquileia.  He  set  out  to  find  the  officer,  and 
after  a  toilsome  journey  met  him  riding  out  of  the  city  with  a  gay  com- 
pany to  hang  a  robber.  On  claiming  hospitality  he  was  given  a  ring 
for  the  lady  as  in  our  story.  He  reflected  that  he  had  wasted  his  time 
in  long  penance  if  he  were  no  better  than  this  knight.  His  adven- 
tures with  the  dame  are  told  much  as  in  the  Met.  Horn.  He  pro- 
tested, however,  at  being  compelled  to  occupy  the  lady's  bed,  and 
the  dame  by  cajolery  and  her  own  strength,  without  calling  for  help, 
plunged  him  four  times  into  a  marble  basin  at  the  foot  of  the  bed.  A 
similar  version  is  that  of  Jean  Mielot,  Miracles  de  Nostre-Daj?ie,  no. 
71  (ed.  Warner,  p.  76). 


NORTH -ENGLISH    HOxMILY   COLLECTION  7^ 

How  the  fabliau  was  transferred  to  North  English  hagiology  is  not 
at  all  clear.  It  does  not  appear  in  the  recognized  biographies  of  St. 
Oswald.  The  French  fabliau  must  have  been  well  enough  known  in 
England,  but  it  is  impossible  to  trace  the  intermediate  steps  by  which 
the  story  was  transferred  to  Oswald  and  by  which  the  minor  miracle  of 
the  speaking  fishes  was  added.  The  version  printed  by  Meon  must  be 
regarded  as  the  form  whence  our  legend  came,  because  the  hermit  of 
Mielot  had  lived  only  ten  years  in  solitude  instead  of  thirty. 

The  only  reference  to  the  story  as  applied  to  Oswald  which  I  know 
is  a  short  narrative  by  John  Herolt,  who  wrote  about  the  middle  of  the 
XIV.  century.  He  gives  the  hermit  the  name  of  Simeon.  Prompt. 
Exemp.,  A,  ex.  7  :  ''  Item  legitur  de  sancto  Oswaldo  rege,  qui  in  vir- 
ginitate  vixit  cum  uxore  sua.  Symeon  ermita  in  eremo  viginti  sep- 
tem  annis  vixerat,  &  petivit  a  Domino  cum  quo  remunerari  deberet, 
responsum  accepit,  quod  cum  Oswaldo  rege,  &  doluit,  &  venit  ad 
regem,  qui  indutus  fuit  regalibus  vestibus,  sed  ab  intra  fuit  flagellatus, 
&  cilicium  ad  cutem  habuit." 

(39)    Theophil : 

In  the  city  of  Cizile  lived  a  good  bishop  who  had  a  clerk  named 
Theophil.  This  man  was  chaste  and  well -beloved  by  all  good  men. 
The  bishop  died,  and  the  people  chose  Theophil  for  his  successor. 
But  Theophil  was  made  falsely  humble  by  the  fiend,  and  notwithstand- 
ing all  their  pleading  and  the  command  of  the  archbishop  before  whom 
they  brought  him  he  would  not  consent  to  take  the  bishopric.  So  the 
archbishop  made  another  bishop,  who  at  first  kept  Theophil  in  his  office 
but  soon  was  influenced  by  malicious  reports  inspired  by  the  devil  to 
put  him  out  of  his  administration.  For  a  while  Theophil  lived  none 
the  less  in  goodness  and  did  alms ;  but  he  yielded  at  length  to  sorrow 
and  brooded  on  his  lost  power.  He  began  to  devise  how  he  could  re- 
gain his  mastery  by  witchcraft  and  went  by  night  to  a  Jew  who  then 
lived  in  the  city  and  who  sent  many  souls  to  hell.  The  Jew  let  him 
in  when  he  knocked,  heard  his  tale,  and  promised  him  help  if  he 
would  come  at  the  same  time  on  the  following  day.  The  next  night 
the  Jew  led  Theophil  to  a  hill  where  he  saw  many  people  in  rich 
attire  gathered  round  a  king.  The  Jew  told  the  devil  that  he  had 
brought  the  bishop's  clerk  who  wished  for  help.  The  fiend  promised 
Theophil  that  he  would  give  him  greater  wealth  than  before  if  only  he 
would  renounce  Christ  and  Mary.  This  Theophil  in  great  joy  prom- 
ised to  do  and  wrote  an  agreement  to  that  effect  which  he  sealed  with 
his  own  ring.      That  same  night  the  bishop  had  a  dream  by  which  he 


y6  G.    H.    GEROULD 

knew  that  he  had  done  Theophil  wrong,  so  in  the  morning  he  restored 
him  to  his  office  according  to  the  devil's  promise.  Theophil  was  now 
in  greater  honor  and  power  than  ever  and  thanked  the  Jew  for  his 
help,  promising  to  remain  the  devil's  man.  So  he  lived  long,  but  at 
last  was  moved  by  God  to  repentance  and  bewailed  his  folly.  At 
length,  almost  in  despair,  he  thought  of  Mary  and  prayed  before  her 
altar,  adjuring  her  to  show  her  might  by  delivering  him.  Fourteen 
days  he  remained  before  her  altar  in  tears,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  as  he  slept  she  appeared  to  him,  and  after  his  humble  confession 
and  argument  that  she  would  never  have  been  God's  Mother  but  for  sin, 
she  promised  to  intercede  for  him.  After  that  he  remained  for  three 
days  in  prayer,  lintil  she  again  appeared  and  said  that  Christ  had 
granted  him  forgiveness.  He  asked  then  another  boon,  that  he  might 
receive  again  the  charter  which  he  had  written.  As  he  lay  asleep  on 
the  third  night  she  laid  the  writing  on  his  breast.  When  he  woke 
he  went  with  great  joy  to  the  church  where  the  bishop  and  people  had 
gathered  for  Sunday  service.  After  mass  he  met  the  bishop  as  he  was 
turning  from  the  altar  to  preach  and  told  him  all  his  case.  The  bis- 
hop read  the  charter  to  the  people  and  bade  them  take  example  from 
Theophil' s  sin  and  repentance.  He  commanded  that  the  agreement 
should  be  burned,  and  said  a  mass  joyfully.  When  he\  was  houselled 
Theophil  went  home,  resigned  his  office,  gave  his  goods  in  alms  and 
lived  in  the  service  of  Mary  till  his  dying  day. 

The  legend  of  Theophilus  is  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  He  was  vicedofnimis  of  the  bishop  of  Cilicia  in  the  VI.  cen- 
tury. This  name  was  by  the  later  writers  confounded  with  Sicily, 
whence  the  Cizile  of  our  version.  The  source  ^  of  the  legend  is  the 
life  of  Theophilus  written  in  Greek  by  Eutychius  who  represents  him- 
self as  a  member  of  the  saint's  household.  Two  MSS.  of  the  Greek 
are  extant,  cod.  CoisUn,  no.  283,  and  cod.  Vindob.,  both  printed  by 
Jubinal,  Rutebeuf,  II.,  pp.  332-357.  Two  translations  were  made 
from  the  Greek,  one  by  (i)  Paulus  Diaconus  (see  Acta  Sancf.,  Feb. 
tom.  I.,  die  4,  p.  483  ff.),  the  other  by  (2)  Gentianus  Hervetus  (see 
Surius,  De  probatis  Sanctorum  historiis,  I.,  p.  823   if.).     According 

1  Henri  Strohmayer,  Rom.,  XXIII.,  p.  601  ff.  takes  the  ground  that  the  Theophi- 
lus legend  arose  as  a  variant  of  the  Proterius  legend  which  first  appeared  in  the  ninth 
cent,  life  of  St.  Basil  of  Caesarea  by  Amphilochius,  and  which  was  also  the  prototype 
of  the  Cyprian  and  Julian  legend.  This  view  assumes  too  much  without  proof,  since 
the  class  of  stories  in  which  devil-dealing  played  a  part  was  exceedingly  large.  The 
Proterius  legend  is,  indeed,  more  like  no.  20  (q.  v.). 


NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  77 

to  the  commentator  in  Acta  Sanct.  Simon  Metaphrastes  somewhat 
later  than  the  time  of  Paulus  revised  the  Greek  of  Eutychius,  and  it 
was  from  this  recension  that  Gentianus  made  his  translation.  For  a 
general  discussion  of  the  Latin  versions  as  well  as  of  the  critical  litera- 
ture, see  Kolbing,  Ueber  die  englischen  fassungen  der  Theophilussage, 
Beitrdge  zur  vergleich.  Geschichte  der  rom.  Poesie  und  Pros  a  des  Mit- 
telalters. 

(3)  In  the  XI.  century  Fulbertus,  Bishop  of  Chartres,  told  the 
story  in  a  Ser?jw  de  natura  B.  M.  V.,  Sermones  ad  Populum,  no.  IV. 
(Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Lat.,  CXLL,  col.  323).  He  refers  to  the 
legend  as  to  something  well  known,  and  vaguely  cites  ^^scriptura 
quaedam  ' '  as  his  authority.  He  in  turn  became  an  authority  for  others, 
and  is  cited  by  Jacques  de  Voragine  and  the  anonymous  author  of  a 
Libellum  de  Beata  Virgine. 

Other  Latin  versions  are  the  following,  most  of  which  are  descen- 
dants of  ( I ) .  Those  which  I  have  not  myself  been  able  to  examine 
are  marked  with  the  asterisk. 

(4)  Marbodes,  a  metrical  form  of  the  XL  century,  when  the  author 
was  bishop  of  Rennes.     Acta  Sanct.,  Feb.  tom.,  I.,  die  4. 

( 5 )  Hroswitha  of  Gandersheim,  ed.  by  Dasent,  Theophilus  in  Ice- 
landic, Low  German,  and  other  tongues,  1845,  P-  ^^  ^-  (see  Kol- 
bing, Ueber  die  engl.  Fassungen,  p.  3  ;  Ludorif,  Forrest's  Theophilus- 
legende,  Anglia,  VII.,  61). 

*  (6)  Canisius  (see  Sommer,  De  Theophili  cum  Diabolo  Fcedere, 
1844,  p.   11). 

*  (7)  Del  Rio  (see  Sommer,  De  Theophili  cum  Diabolo  Fcedere, 
1844,  p.   11). 

(8)  Sigibertus  Gemblacensis,  Chronica,  Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Lat., 
CLX.,  col.  102  (see  Sommer,  p.  13;  Kolbing,  p.  3). 

(9)  Vincentius  Bellovacensis,  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  XXL,  cap.  69 
and  70. 

*(io)  lieTcu\isYmcem2i\2e,,MiraculaMarice  Firginis,  Mediol.  1579, 
(K51bing,  p.  3;  Ludorif,  p.  61). 

*  ( 1 1 )  Florentius  Radewin,  ed.  with  an  introduction  by  W.  Meyer, 
Sitzungberichten  der  philos.,philol.  Abtheilung  der  k.  bairischen  Akad. 
der  Wissenschaften,  1873  (see  Ludorff,  p.  61). 

(12)  MS.  Bib.  Nat.  lat.  2333  A,  fol.  115,  ed.  Weber  in  Grober's 
Zts.f.  rom.  Phil.,  L,  p.  523  ff.  (Ludorff,  p.  61). 

(13)  Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  CXXXI.  (ed. 
Graesse,  p.  593)  ;  cap.  CLXXXIX.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  871). 


78 


H.    GEROULD 


(14)  Libellum  de  Beata  Virgine,  no  CXXX.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat. 
18134,  fol.  82(b). 

(15)  MS.  Bib.  Nat.  lat.    5267,  fol.  19(b). 

(16)  ''      "       "      ''     5268,  fol.  5(a),  no.   VI. 

(17)  ''      ''       ''      ''     5562,  fol.  15(b). 

(18)  "      ''       "       "  12593,  fol.  T49  (b). 

(19)  ''      ''       ''       ''  14463,  fol.  3(b),  no.  VIII. 

(20)  "      ''       "      "  17491,  fol.  141(b). 

(21)  '*    Balliol  240,  no.  11. 

(22)  MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Cott.  Cleop.,  C.  10,  fol.  104(a),  no.  II. 

(23)  Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Celt,  De  ambitione,  fol.  6(b). 

(24)  Etienne  de  Besangon,  Alph.  Narr.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  15913, 

fol.  53(a). 

(25)  Herolt,  De  Miraculis  Beatce  Virginis,  ex.  43. 

The  last  two,  of  which  Herolt  is  a  derivative  of  Etienne,  make  no 
mention  of  the  Jew  but  have  proceedings  with  the  devil  extend  over 
three  nights. 

In  old  French  a  well-known  version  is  that  of  Gautier  de  Coincy, 
Miracles  de  la  Sainte  Vierge,  p.  30.  This  is  the  longest  version  which 
I  know,  but  gives  the  events  much  as  in  Met.  Horn.  A  somewhat 
shorter  metrical  version  (2032  lines  instead  of  2090)  contained  in  MS. 
Bibl.  Nat.  fran.  375,  is  simply  a  manuscript  variant  of  this.  In  Rute- 
beuf  (ed.  Jubinal,  II.,  p.  79;  Kraessner,  p.  206),  is  Le  Miracle  de 
Theophile  in  quasi-dramatic  form.  The  Jew  is  here  called  Salatius. 
Jubinal  also  prints,  p.  327  ff.,  a  short  Priere  de  Theophile ;  and  a 
longer  Li  Priere  Theophilus  appeared  in  Grober's  Zeitschrift,  I.,  247, 
edited  by  A.  Scheler.  In  MS.  Egerton  612,  which  contains  the  col- 
lection by  the  poet  self-styled  Adgar,  is  a  version  which  has  been 
edited  by  Weber  in  Grober's  Zts.,  I.,  p.  531  ff.  The  story,  told  in 
French  prose,  is  contained  in  Miracles  de  la  Vierge,  no.  28,  MS.  Bib. 
Nat.  fran.,  410,  fol.  20(b).  This  is,  however,  of  the  XV.  century. 
Francois  Villon  also  makes  reference  to  the  legend  in  a  Ballade  Que 
Villon  Beit  al  a  Requeste  de  sa  Mere  pour  Prier  Nostre-Dame  (ed. 
Jannet,  p.  55). 

For  the  versions  in  German,  Dutch  and  Icelandic,  see  Kolbing, 
Ludorff,  and  also  Gering,  Islendzk  yB.ventyri. 

In  English  three  different  versions  ^  of  the  legend  are  extant : 

1  Also  a  short  abstract  by  ^Ifric,  Sermones  Catholiciy  De  assumptione,  ed.  Thorpe, 
I.,  448. 


.NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  79 

( I ;  That  of  the  South-English  Legendary,  printed  by  Horstmann, 
Early  South- English  Legendary,  1887,  p.  288,  from  MS.  Laud  108. 
For  a  discussion  of  the  various  MSS.  in  which  this  legend  is  preserved 
see  further,  Horstmann,  Altenglische  Legenden,  neue  Folge,  p.  xliv  ff. 

(2)  That  of  the  North  English  Homily  Collection,  where  it  appears 
in  all  the  MSS.  which  are  complete.     See  tables  in  Part  I. 

(3)  That  of  William  Forrest  who  wrote  in  the  XVL  century. 
Found  in  MS.  Harl.  1703,  and  edited  by  Ludorff,  William  Eorresfs 
Theophiluslegende,  AngL,  VIL,  p.  60  ff. 

Kolbing  in  his  study.  Die  engl.  Eassungen,  above  cited,  leaves  the 
ultimate  sources  of  the  English  versions  undecided.  He  finds,  how- 
ever, that  the  northern  form  (of  which  he  unfortunately  used  the  MSS. 
of  the  expanded  and  therefore  more  corrupt  collections)  belongs  to  a 
group  composed  of  the  Dutch  version  ^  and  two  Icelandic  versions,^ 
together  with  the  legends  in  English  (p.  38).  He  conjectures  a  long 
Latin  version  from  which  the  versions  in  vernacular  may  have  proceeded. 
It  remains  to  be  noticed  that  Kolbing  has  printed  the  legend  from 
MSS.  Harl.  4196  and  Vernon  in  Engl.  Si.,  I.,  16-57,  Die  jiingere 
engl.  Eassung  der  Theophilussage. 

(40)  The  Adulterous  Priest : 

A  holy  parish  priest  had  a  dear  friend  who  lived  next  door  to  him. 
The  friend  and  his  good  wife  died  leaving  a  little  daughter  destitute. 
Her  kin  forsook  the  child,  so  the  priest  took  her  home  and  nourished 
her  till  she  grew  up  and  ruled  his  house.  At  length  the  fiend  tempted 
him  with  lust  (so  great  is  the  folly  for  priest  or  clerk  to  have  a 
woman  near)  and  made  him  sin  with  the  maiden.  He  repented  soon 
and  thought  to  slay  himself.  He  put  the  woman  away,  but  would  not 
for  shame  make  confession  to  a  priest.  So  he  began  terrible  penance  to 
cleanse  his  soul,  and  thus  lived  for  a  twelvemonth.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  he  thought  that  God  had  forgiven  his  sin  and  so  went  to  the  altar 
to  sing  mass.  But  the  host  vanished  from  his  sight.  Another  year  he 
fasted  and  did  penance  without  shrift,  and  at  the  end  he  tried  once 
more  to  celebrate  mass.  Again  God's  flesh  and  blood  vanished. 
Then  he  knew  that  he  must  confess  before  he  could  be  forgiven. 
When  he  was  shriven  to  a  priest  he  celebrated  mass  and  found  three 
wafers  instead  of  one  before  him.  So  he  ate  the  three  and  thanked 
God  for  the  miracle. 

iTheophilus,  gedicht  der  XI V«  eeuw,  uitgegeven  door  Ph.  B[lommaert],  1836. 
='Ed.  Dasent,  above  cited,  1-28  ;  and  Unger,  Mariu  Saga,  402-421,  1080-1090. 
See  Gering,  II.,  note  to  137. 


So  G.    H.    GEROULD 

A  story  in  Robert  of  Brunne's  Handlyng  Synne,  and  William  of 
Wadington's  Manuel  des  Pechiez  (ed.  Furnivall,  p.  300)  bears  some 
resemblance  to  this.  St.  Gregory  tells  of  a  priest  who  seduced  his 
god-daughter.  When  she  was  nearly  grown  up  he  asked  her  parents 
to  let  her  stay  with  him  one  Easter-tide.  He  got  drunk  that  night 
and  lay  with  her.  Though  he  knew  he  had  sinned  he  preferred  to  go 
to  church  and  incur  God's  displeasure  rather  than  remain  at  home  and 
be  suspected  by  men.  For  six  days  all  went  well,  and  the  priest 
thought  God  had  forgotten, 

"Or  tho^t  >at  he  hadde  hyt  for  5y"e 

And  hym  nydede  nat  ))er  of  be  schryue." 

But  on  the  seventh  day  he  died,  and  soon  after  fire  burst   from   his 
grave,  utterly  devouring  the  body. 

I  cannot  find  the  reference  in  Gregory's  works. 

(41)  The  Thrifty  Gardener  : 
.  There  was  once  a  poor  but  generous  gardener  who  gave  all  he  could 
spare  to  the  poor.  Satan  put  it  in  his  thought  to  save  against  his  old 
age,  so  that  he  left  his  charity  and  gathered  a  boot  full  of  pennies.  It 
happened  that  his  foot  became  sore  and  began  to  rot.  He  sent  after 
wise  leeches  and  spent  his  pennies  fast,  but  he  got  no  help.  When  all 
the  money  was  gone  and  his  foot  was  worse  than  ever  he  called  a  wise 
leech  who  told  him  that  the  foot  must  be  cut  off  or  he  would  die. 
The  leech  promised  to  come  on  the  next  day  and  cut  off  the  limb. 
That  night  the  gardener  lay  on  his  bed  and,  bewailing  his  folly  in 
leaving  charity,  prayed  God  for  help.  When  he  had  prayed  he  saw 
an  angel  standing  by,  who  said  : 

*<  Where  es  now  \>\  penyse,  whare 
J?t  l^ou  so  bisi  was  to  spare  ?  ' ' 

The  gardener  acknowledged  his  fault  and  was  healed  by  a  touch  of 
the  angel.  The  next  morning  he  went  early  to  work.  When  the 
leech  came  he  saw  him  in  the  field  and  praised  Our  Lord. 

This  story  is  from  the  Vitce.  Patrum,  lib.  V.,  or  Verba  Seniorum,  by 
an  unknown  Greek  author  {MigHQ,  Fatr.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIIL,  col. 
892).  Most  of  the  other  versions  refer  to  this,  though  several  of  them 
tell  the  story  very  briefly.     I  have  found  the  following  examples  : 

Speculufti  Morale,  lib.  HI.,  dist.  XVIII.,  pars  VII. 

Paraldus,  Summa  Virt.  ac  Vitiorum,  lib.  II.,  fol.  52(b). 

Bromyard,  Summa  Frcedicantium,  E,  III.,  45. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  8l 

Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Cell,  De  avaritia,  fol.  15(a). 

Herolt,  Prompt.  Exempt.,  exem.  E,  XL 

Jacob's  Well,  chap.  XVIII.  (ed.  Brandeis,  p.  125). 

Caxton's  Vitas  Patrum,  fol.  247. 

The  story  is  also  given  as  no.  18  in  a  collection  of  Latin  fables  and 
exempla  published  by  A.  Tobler,  Zts.  fur  ro7nanische  Phil.,  XIL,  pp. 
57-88,  from  MS.  Hamilton  390,  Kgl.  Bibliothek  zu  Berlin.  No  ref- 
erence is  made  to  the  Vita  Patrum,  nor  is  the  man  represented  as  a 
gardener,  although  the  general  course  of  events  is  the  same. 

(42)  The  Wicked  Brother  of  a  Monk  : 

St.  Gregory  tells  us  that  once  a  clerk  made  himself  a  monk  and  be- 
came very  holy.  He  had  a  brother  who  was  worldly  and  loved  noth- 
ing but  folly.  The  brother  lived  in  the  abbey  and  was  a  sorrow  to  all, 
yet  was  endured  for  the  sake  of  the  good  monk.  The  abbot  gave  him 
clothing  and  food,  for  he  was  n'er-do-well.  He  fell  sick  and  at  last 
drew  near  to  death.  The  brothers  came  to  pray  for  him,  and  as  they 
stood  beside  his  bed  they  saw  that  he  suffered  torment.  As  he  lay 
tossing  about  he  saw  an  ugly  dragon  approaching  prepared  to  strangle 
him.  He  cried  out  and  besought  the  monks  to  leave  him,  as  he  was 
the  certain  prey  of  the  dragon.  They,  however,  prayed  all  the  faster 
and  bade  him  pray.  He  said  he  could  not,  because  the  dragon  lay 
upon  him  and  had  his  head  in  its  mouth  so  that  his  cheeks  were  wet 
with  the  foam.  Still  the  monks-  prayed  and  with  such  effect  that  the 
dragon  ran  away.  The  sick  man  thanked  God  and  amended  his  life, 
so  that  he  lived  and  died  a  holy  man. 

This  tale  comes  ultimately  from  Gregory  the  Great  to  whom  it  is 
referred.  Indeed,  it  is  very  probable  that  our  author  took  it  directly 
from  his  works,  since  they  were  widely  circulated  in  England.  It  is 
found  both  in  the  Hofnilies  and  Dialogues.  The  former  is  more  nearly 
like  our  version.  It  begins  :  ''  Ante  biennium  frater  quidam  in  mon- 
asterium  meum  quod  juxta  beatorum  martyrum  Joannis  et  Pauli  Ec- 
clesiam  situm  est,  gratia  conversationis  venit,  qui  diu  regulariter  pro- 
tractus,  quandoque  susceptus  est."  Hortiilia,  lib.  II.,  horn.  j8 
(Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXVL,  col,  1292).  The  brother  is 
said  to  have  followed  the  monk  because  of  "  camali  amore."  In  the 
version  of  the  Dialogues  (lib.  IV.,  cap.  38,  Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Lat., 
LXXVIL,  col.  389)  the  brother  is  named,  '^Theodorus  nomine, 
puer  fuit,  qui  in  monasterium  meum,  fratrem  suum  necessitate  magis 
quam  voluntate  secutus  est," 


82  G.     H.    GEROULD 

The  version  of  the  Dialogues  is  that  given  by  Etienne  de  Besan<;on 
in  the  Alphabetum  Narrationum  (MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  159 13,  fol. 
59(a)),  who  ascribed  it  to  Gregory.  Without  reference  to  Gregory 
and  without  names  is  the  version  of  John  Herolt,  Sermoius  de  Tem- 
pore,  sermo,  121. 

A  variant  with  a  different  ending  occurs  in  the  Speculum  Morale, 
lib.  II.,  dist.  IV.,  pars  I.  With  no  justification  it  is  referred  to  Bede. 
*'  Idem  etiam  narrat  de  quodam  fabro,  qui  propter  necessitatem  operum, 
in  quodam  monasterio  sustentatus  a  fratribus,  irreligiose  vivebat. ' '  He 
was  taken  sick  and  said  that  he  saw  hell  yawning  before  him  with  Satan, 
Caiphas  and  the  others  who  slew  Christ  in  the  abyss.  He  was  ex- 
horted to  repent,  but  was  unable  to  do  so  and  died  in  his  sins. 

(43)   Saint  Pelagia : 

In  Antioch  lived  a  woman  called  Dame  Pelagia  who  was  a  harlot  of 
such  fame  that  she  attracted  dukes,  earls  and  barons  from  many  towns, 
and  other  men  from  all  nations.  Now  the  archbishop  of  that  city 
made  a  great  assembly  of  bishops.  It  happened  that  they  met  in  a 
public  place  where  they  spoke  of  the  needs  of  the  soul.  As  they  sat 
there  Pelagia  rode  by  to,  show  her  beauty  to  the  multitude.  She  was 
richly  clad  and  followed  by  a  crowd  of  men,  young  and  old.  When 
they  saw  her  all  the  bishops  covered  their  eyes  with  their  hoods  except 
one  who  gazed  long  upon  her  to  the  great  wonder  of  his  fellows  who 
esteemed  him  holy.  At  length  he  began  to  weep  and  counselled  the 
bishops  concerning  her,  confessing  that  he  had  almost  been  led  astray. 
That  night  he  dreamed  that  as  he  was  singing  mass  he  saw  a  black  and 
stinking  bird  fly  about  his  head,  that  while  he  was  going  homeward  he 
saw  the  bird  again  and  cast  it  into  a  stone  basin  filled  with  water, 
whence  it  came  out  white  as  snow  and  flew  towards  heaven.  The 
next  day,  while  he  was  preaching,  Pelagia  came  to  the  church  to  show 
her  beauty,  but  she  was  so  moved  that,  to  the  wonder  of  the  people, 
she  began  to  weep  for  her  sins.  Later  she  sent  the  bishop  a  letter 
praying  for  the  love  of  Christ  that  she  might  come  to  him  to  learn  how 
to  leave  her  sin.  He  sent  word  that  she  might  see  him  but  only  in 
the  presence  of  the  other  bishops.  This  she  did  and  fell  at  his  feet 
begging  his  pity.  He  told  her  that  she  could  only  be  received  into 
the  church  if  sponsors  would  stand  for  her.  At  this  she  cried  out  the 
more  and  told  of  her  penitence.  So  all  the.  bishops  sent  word  to  the 
bishop  of  the  city,  who  sent  a  prioress  called  Romayne  to  be  sponsor 
at  the  baptism.  St.  Nomnus  asked  Pelagia  her  name.  She  said  Pe- 
lagia by  right,  though  men  called  her  Margaret  for  her  beauty.     She 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  83 

made  confession  of  her  sins,  was  baptized,  and  placed  in  the  care  of 
the  prioress.  That  day  as  they  all  s^t  together  at  a  feast  they  heard 
groans  and  weeping — the  devil  lamenting  for  the  souls  which  he  had 
lost  that  day  in  Eliopolis.  At  the  sign  of  the  cross  made  by  Pelagia 
he  flew  away  but  returned  to  her  on  the  third  night  and  again  lamented 
his  loss.  On  the  morn,  after  she  had  called  her  servants  together  and 
given  them  a  thousand  gold  bezants,  she  brought  her  wealth  to  Nom- 
nus  and  bade  the  saint  distribute  it  all  in  alms.  That  same  day  she 
put  ofl"  her  good  clothing  and  in  the  night  escaped  secretly  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  There  she  lived  in  a  little  house  as  a  man  and  was 
known  as  Pelagius.  Now  the  bishop  had  a  clerk  named  John  who 
asked  leave  to  go  to  Jerusalem  on  pilgrimage.  The  bishop,  knowing 
through  the  Holy  Ghost  where  Pelagia  had  gone,  gave  the  clerk  per- 
mission and  told  him  to  enquire  after  Dan  Pelagius.  The  clerk  soon 
came  to  Jerusalem  and  heard  of  the  holy  hermit,  whom  he  visited  but 
did  not  recognize,  though  Pelagia  knew  him.  He  told  her  of  Nomnus, 
and  she  asked  for  the  prayers  of  that  holy  man,  then  barred  again  her 
doors.  Two  days  later  the  clerk  returned  and  found  her  dead.  He 
spread  the  news,  and  when  the  other  hermits  came  to  wash  the  body 
they  found  that  Pelagius  was  a  woman.  Then  he  knew  that  it  was 
indeed  Pelagia,  and  praising  God  he  returned  to  tell  the  news  at  home. 

The  source  of  the  Pelagia  legend  is  a  life  of  the  saint  by  Jacobus 
Diaconus,  who  represents  himself  as  the  disciple  who  found  her  living 
at  Jerusalem  as  Pelagius.  Printed  in  Acta  Sanct.,  Oct.,  tom.  IV.,  die 
8,  p.  262.     Pelagia' s  date  is  290  A. D. 

Dr.  Horstmann,  Uber  Osbern  Bokenam,  p.  3,  has  the  following 
note  upon  Pelagia  and  the  related  legend :  ' '  Die  mythischen  sind 
entweder  durch  Umwandlung  antiker  Gottheiten  und  Mythen  in 
christliche  Heilige  und  Legenden  entstanden :  wie  (nach  Useners 
Annahme,  in  s.  Legenden  der  Pelagia,  1879)  die  an  der  kleinasiatis- 
chen  Kijste  auftauchenden  hh.  Pelagia,  Marina,  Margarita,  Pelagia, 
Eugenia,  Theodora  alle  nur  Metamorphosen  der  asiat.  Aphrodite 
(Aphr.  pelagia,  Venus  marina)  sind,  oder  wie  die  Siebenschlafersage 
aus  dem  Kabylenkultus  abgeleitet  scheint. ' ' 

The  legend  of  Marina  is  given  in  the  present  collection  as  Mawryne 
(no.  16).  To  the  list  in  Horstmann  should  be  added  Porphyria  who 
became  Pelagia.  Vita  Johan.  Elymosinarii,  in  Vitce  Patrutn  (^Migne, 
Patr.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXIIL,  col.  377).  It  bears  some  resemblance  to 
the  Thaisis  legend  (see  no.  34). 


84  G.    H.    GEROULD 

The  Pelagia  legend  is  found  in  Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea, 
cap.  CL.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  674).  In  this  version  the  order  of  events 
is  somewhat  different.  There  is  no  assembly  of  bishops ;  the  good 
bishop  is  called  Veronus  of  Heliopoleos  (or  Damieta)  ;  the  abbess 
Romana  is  not  mentioned  nor  any  sponsor,  and  the  letters  between 
Pelagia  and  the  bishop  are  differently  arranged.  This  version  appears 
again  in  Jean  de  Vignay's  translation,  fol.  195(a),  and  in  Caxton's 
Golden  Legend.  In  English  there  is  also  the  free  and  somewhat 
expanded  paraphrase  in  Barbour' s  Legend  Collection  (ed.  Horstmann, 
II.,  p.  74;  Metcalfe,  II.,  p.  204). 

The  Met.  Hotn.  legend  does  not  belong  to  this  group,  however, 
and  probably  comes  directly  from  the  life  by  Jacobus  Diaconus.  This 
is  proved  by  likeness  in  order  as  well  as  by  similarity  in  names. 
Nonnus  of  the  original  becomes  Nomnus,  and  Romana  Romayne.  To 
the  same  group  belongs  the  Pelagia  of  An  Old  English  Marty ro logy 
(ed.  Herzfeld)  where  it  is  told  for  Oct.  19.  Also  in  Caxton's  Vitas 
Fatrum,  fol.  62. 

(44)  The  Knight  who  forgave  his  Enemy  : 

There  was  once  a  knight  who  slew  another  in  combat  and  held  him- 
self in  a  castle  to  avoid  the  son  of  the  latter  who  had  sworn  vengeance. 
On  a  Good  Friday  he  saw  the  folk  going  barefoot  to  church,  and  he 
determined  to  go  forth  himself. 

"  '  Haue  I,'  he  saide,  *no  lyfe  bot  ane.'  " 

Soon  he  met  his  enemy,  who  lay  in  wait,  and  in  answer  to  the  re- 
proaches of  the  young  knight  he  fell  to  his  knees  crying  mercy  for  the 
love  of  Christ.  Moved  by  the  appeal  the  knight  not  only  forgave  his 
father's  slayer,  but  kissed  him  and  went  with  him  to  the  church.  At 
the  mass  he  was  courteous  and  put  the  old  knight  first  in  making  offer- 
ing to  the  cross.  When  at  length  he  knelt  devoutly  to  kiss  the  image, 
the  figure  on  the  rood  embracied  and  kissed  him.  So  he  and  all  the 
people  praised  God. 

This  well-known  legend,  which  appears  in  several  forms,  probably 
was  first  connected  with  the  life  of  San  Giovanni  Gualberto,  the 
founder  of  Vallombrosa,  who  lived  in  the  nth  century.  Two  early 
biographers,  Beato  Andrea,  Abbate  Strumensi,  and  Attone  gave  the 
legend  in  its  first  form.  Acta  Sanct.,  Jul.,  tom.  III.,  die  XII.  (re- 
printed by  Migne,  Fatr.  Curs.  Lat.,  CXLVL,  col.  667  and  col.  765). 
A  Florentine  noble  in  the  time  of  Emperor  Henry,  Gualbertus  by 
name,  had  two  sons,  Ugo  and  Johannes.     The  latter  was  especially 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  85 

loved  by  all.  A  certain  man  killed  ''quemdam  propinquum  ejus." 
One  day  this  man  met  Johannes  in  a  narrow  way  on  a  hill-slope,  and 
in  fear  leaped  from  his  horse  to  kneel  at  the  feet  of  the  knight.  Crav- 
ing pardon  he  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  his  arms.  This  moved 
Johannes'  pity,  who  allowed  the  enemy  to  go  in  peace.  Later  he 
went  into  a  church,  where  the  crucifix  bent  his  head  to  show  approval. 

The  Comment arius  in  Acta  Sanct.,  p.  311,  says  that  the  Breviarium 
Romanum  and  later  writers  speak  of  Ugo  as  having  been  killed  and 
of  the  pardon  taking  place  on  Good  Friday.  It  suggests  that  these 
changes  were  brought  about  by  the  influence  of  Petrus  Dafnianus  (see 
Migne,  Patr.  Curs.  Lat.,  CXLV.,  col.  654),  who  has  the  story  of  a 
man  who  killed  another  of  higher  rank  than  himself.  He  was  pursued 
by  the  son  of  the  slain  with  thirty  followers.  He  himself  had  but  five 
attendants  and  so  begged  for  mercy  by  the  cross  which  he  made. 
Here  the  image  in  a  church  not  far  off  bowed  three  times. 

From  this  to  the  later  versions  the  changes  were  easily  made.  The 
tale  appears  in  Caesar  von  Heisterbach,  Dial.  Mirac,  dist.  VHI.,  cap. 
XXL,  beginning  '^Temporibus  nostris  in  provincia  nostra."  The 
events  run  thus :  A  murderer  was  pursued  and  pardoned  by  the  son  of 
his  enemy.  The  young  knight  shortly  afterwards  crossed  the  sea  on  a 
crusade,  and  when  he  entered  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  the 
crucifix  bowed  to  him.  Etienne  de  Besangon  reproduces  this  version 
exactly  in  Alph.  Narr.,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  15913,  fol.  56(a),  re- 
ferring to  Caesarius  and  placing  the  events  in  Theutonia.  The  version 
of  Jacob' s  Well,  chap.  XL.  (ed.  Brandeis,  .p.  252)  also  refers  to 
Caesarius  and  Theutonia  but  here  the  ending  is  the  more  common  one 
of  the  Met.  Horn.  The  image  said  :  ^'  ]70u  forjyue  ))is  knyjt  ]>i  faderis 
deth  for  my  loue  &  kyssed  hym ;  |?er-fore  I  for  jeue  l>e  alle  ])i  synnes 
&  kysse  ])e." 

The  German  version,  in  VsiwM' s  Schimpf  und  Ernst  (ed.  Oesterley), 
no.  692,  lays  the  scene  in  Florence  and  gives  the  form  of  popular 
tradition  where  the  brother  was  slain  and  they  went  arm-in-arm  to 
church  of  ''  Sancti  Ameniati." 

John  Herolt  in  the  XIV.  century  gave  two  Latin  versions :  one  in 
Sermones  de  Tempore,  no.  130,  where  the  young  knight  met  the  elder 
going  to  church  unarmed,  though  he  had  not  previously  been  able  to 
find  him;  another  in  Prompt.  Exemp.  I,  ex.  16,  referred  to  Guliel- 
mus.  In  the  latter,  perhaps  from  a  recollection  of  the  Burgundian 
hero,  the  man  slain  was  named  Guntherus.  His  brother,  who  is  not 
named,  had  set  out  on  a  pilgrimage  with  a  great  company  and  unex- 


86  G.    H.    GEROULD 

pectedly  encountered  the  murderer.  Three  times  the  noble,  urged  on 
by  his  followers,  was  on  the  point  of  killing  his  brother's  foe  but  at 
length  pardoned  him.  That  day  as  he  knelt  three  times  before  a 
crucifix  the  image  each  time  bowed  to  him.  Only  a  holy  man  saw 
who  questioned  the  knight  and  learned  the  good  deed  he  had  done. 

Most  like  the  version  of  the  Met.  Horn. ,  is  that  of  William  of  Wad- 
ington  and  Robert  of  Brunne  (ed.  Furnivall,  p.  120).  This  is  the 
only  other  example  I  have  found  where  the  slayer  held  himself  in  his 
castle  and  only  went  out  on  Good  Friday.  According  to  this  account 
the  knight  had  remained  for  twelve  months  in  his  '^  best  castel."  The 
image  took  his  arm  off  the  cross  to  embrace  the  young  knight.  Either 
the  French  treatise  or  its  translation  is  the  probable  immediate  source 
of  our  tale. 

A  curious  variant  of  the  legend  is  told  by  Roger  of  Wendover, 
Chronica  (ed.  Hewlett,  III.,  p.  22).  A  vassal  of  King  Richard  .was 
caught  hunting  in  the  domain  of  the  King,  New  Forest,  and  was  ban- 
ished the  realm.  Reduced  to  beggary  he  entered  a  church  in  Nor- 
mandy where  Richard  was  worshipping.  He  bowed  humbly  before 
the  cross,  and  every  time  he  knelt  the  image  bowed  his  head.  The 
King  saw  this  and  asked  the  man  what  he  had  done  to  merit  such 
honour.  The  knight  narrated  that  in  youth  he  had  lost  his  father, 
and  when  he  grew  up  he  pursued  the  murderer.  The  latter  avoided 
him  till  Good  Friday  when  he  went  unguarded  to  church.  The  young 
knight  overtook  him  at  a  wayside  cross,  but  pardoned  him  when  he 
embraced  the  cross  and.  promised  to  build  a  chapel  there  for  the  vic- 
tim's soul.  So  when  he  heard  the  story  Richard  too  was  merciful  and 
restored  the  knight  to  his  lands. 

(45)  St.  Gregory  and  Trajan's  Soul : 

Trajan  was  an  emperor  of  Rome,  who,  though  he  lived  and  died  a 
heathen,  was  a  good  man.  Many  winters  afterward  Gregory,  the  Pope 
of  Rome,  passed  before  the  emperor's  gate  and  wept  that  such  a  good 
king  should  have  gone  to  hell.  So  great  was  his  pity,  that  he  prayed 
before  the  high  altar  that  the  soul  of  Trajan  might  be  brought  out  of 
hell.  As  he  prayed,  he  fell  asleep  and  heard  an  angel  say  that  Christ 
had  granted  his  prayer  but  that  he  must  never  again  pray  for  those  who 
had  gone  to  hell. 

This  legend  of  Gregory  the  Great  is  told  in  the  life  of  the  saint  by 
Johannes  Diaconus,  II.,  44  (Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXV.,  col. 
104).      Other  references  are  these  : 


NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  87 

Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aii?'ea,  cap.   XLVI.    (ed.   Graesse,   p. 

196). 
Paraldus,   Sumnia    Virt.  ac  Vtt.,  lib.  I.,  pars  II.,   tract.  II.,   cap.  IV. 

(fol.  17(a)). 
Etienne  de  Besangon,  Alph.  Narr.,   MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  159 13,  fol. 

65(a). 

Henry  of  Huntingdon,  Hist.  Anglorum,  I.,  25   (ed.  Arnold,  p.  23). 

Flores  Historiarum^  I.,  283  (ed.  Luard,  I.,  p.  291). 

La  Vie  de  S.  Gregoire  par  Frere  Angier  (ed.  Meyer,  Rom.,  XII.,  p. 

186). 
Secreta  Secretorum,  ed.  Steele,  p.  169. 

(46)  The  Imprisoned  Jews  : 

God  chose  a  people  called  the  Jews  for  his  own.  They  were  des- 
cended from  twelve  brothers  and  received  countless  benefits  from  God, 
yet  they  forsook  Him  many  times  and  as  many  times  were  punished. 
The  King  of  Babylon  had  many  Jews  in  his  realm,  and  for  their  wick- 
edness he  drove  them  into  a  wilderness  surrounded  by  high  hills  and 
commanded  that  they  should  never  come  out.  Many  winters  after- 
ward King  Alexander  who  had  conquered  the  world  came  there.  The 
Jews  prayed  him  that  they  might  have  leave  to  come  out.  He  asked 
them,  as  books  tell  us,  why  they  were  shut  up  in  the  hills.  A  man 
answered  that  they  had  forsaken  their  God  who  had  done  more  for 
them  than  for  any  other  people.  When  Alexander  heard  this  he  com- 
manded that  walls  of  masonry  be  built  so  that  the  Jews  should  never 
get  out.  But  what  was  built  by  day  fell  down  by  night.  Seeing  this 
Alexander  prayed  that  God  would  bring  the  hills  together  to  make 
high  walls.  North,  south,  east,  and  west  the  hills  were  bound  together 
by  his  prayer,  so  that  nothing  but  flying  fowl  can  escape.  There  the 
Jews  shall  remain  till  Doomsday,  when  they  will  go  out  to  slay  Chris- 
tians and  receive  Antichrist,  thinking  him  the  true  Christ. 

For  the  history  of  this  Christian  legend  grafted  upon  the  oriental 
romances  of  Alexander  the  Great,  see  Noldeke,  Beitrdge  zur  Geschichte 
des  Aiexanderromans,  1890;  Budge,  The  History  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  1889,  and  The  Life  and  Exploits  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
1896,  and  Paul  Meyer,  Alexandre  le  Grand  dans  la  litterature  fran- 
gaise  du  Moyen  Age,  1886. 

All  the  legendary  tales  of  Alexander  are  based  upon  the  Greek  his- 
tory falsely  attributed  to  his  companion,  Callisthenes.  The  pseudo- 
Callisthenes  lived  not  later  than   200  A.   D.,  and  was  probably  an 


88  G.     H.     GEROULU 

Egyptian.^  The  Christian  legend,  of  which  the  story  of  the  Caspian 
gates  forms  a  part,  is  found  in  the  metrical  discourse  of  Jacob  of 
SerOgh  (f52i)^  in  Syraic,^  to  whom  it  owes  its  main  character, 
especially  the  use  of  biblical  names.  A  prose  Syriac  version  printed 
by  Budge,  Hist,  of  Alex,,  was  somewhat  earlier  than  this  but  was 
written  by  some  one  who  knew  the  inroads  of  the  Huns  into  Europe 
in  the  fifth  century,  because  they  replace  the  people  of  Gog  and  Magog 
of  the  earlier  version.  Both  these  works  are  ''  based  upon  the  twenty- 
ninth  chapter  of  the  third  book  of  Pseudo-Callisthenes. ' '  *  An  Ethiopic 
version  is  inserted  into  the  romance  in  that  tongue  printed  by  Budge, 
Life  and  Exploits.  Various  other  references  in  Greek  and  oriental 
writings  are  given  by  Budge,  Noldeke,  and  Meyer,  but  in  all  of 
these  the  wall  is  made  against  the  Huns  or  the  forces  of  Gog  and 
Magog. 

The  reference  in  Josephus  is  the  only  one  which  need  be  mentioned 
here,  since  Josephus  is  cited  as  authority  by  Petrus  Comestor  (f 
1 1 78) .  The  latter  follows,  however,  the  more  distinctly  Christian  form 
of  Jacob  of  Serugh  in  his  account  found  in  the  Historia  Scholastic  a,  lib. 
Esther,  cap.  V.  (Migne,  Fatr.  Curs.  Lat.,  CXCVIH.,  col.  1498); 
and  his  is  the  indirect  original,  at  all  events,  of  our  version.  The 
second  part  of  the  story  as  related  by  Peter  and  the  author  of  Met. 
Horn,  is  also  given  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  IV.,  cap. 
43  ;  by  Holkot,  Opus  sup.  Sap.  Salo77ionis,  lect.  CXCVIIL;  and  in 
Flores  Hist.,  ed.  I.uard,  L,  p.  65. 

The  version  more  common  in  western  Europe  was  that  based  upon 
the  tenth  century  translation  of  Pseudo-Callisthenes  by  the  Neapolitan 
Archbishop  Leo,  the  Historia  Alexandri  Magni  de  Pros  His.  This 
appears  in  the  French  romance  in  alexandrines,  where  after  conquer- 
ing Gog  and  Magog  Alexander  encloses  them  in  the  mountains  of 
*'Tus"  whither  they  had  fled.^  Meyer  regards  '^Tus"  as  a  corrup- 
tion of  '^mons  Caspius  "  or  *'mons  Imaiis."  ®  We  find  two  English 
references  to  this  version  :  Wulfstan,  ed.  Napier,  p.  84,  variant  to 
line  12,  in  homily  from  MS.  Bod.  NE.  F.  IV.  12  ;  and  The  Wars  of 
Alexander,  ed.  Skeat,  p.  270. 

1  Budge,  Hist,  of  Alex. ,  p.  Ixxvii. 

2  Noldeke. 

3  Given  in  trans,  by  Budge,  Hist,  of  Alex.,  p.  163  ff. 
*  Budge,  Hist,  of  Alex.,  p.  Ixxvii. 

6  Meyer,  II.,  p.  386  ff. 

«n.,  p.  389. 


NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  89 

(47)  Tarsilla,  Gordiana  and  Emiliana  : 

Gregory  says  that  his  father  had  three  sisters  who  wished  to  be  in 
religion.  The  eldest  was  named  Tarsilla,  the  second  Gordiana  and 
the  youngest  Emiliana,  who  was  held  to  be  fair.  A  bishop  gave  them 
their  nun's  garb  and  taught  them  how  to  lead  a  holy  life.  They  dwelt 
together  in  their  own  house.  Tarsilla  and  Emiliana  served  God  faith- 
fully, but  Gordiana  became  an  evil  woman.  She  loved  to  walk  in  the 
streets,  to  play  and  to  sing,  but  she  thought  it  wearisome  to  talk  of 
holy  things.  Her  sisters  were  made  sorrowful  on  her  account  and 
reproved  her,  but  to  no  purpose.  She  gave  all  her  life  to  pleasure  and 
longed  to  marry.  After  many  years  God  wished  to  take  Tarsilla  from 
the  woe  of  the  world  and  in  her  sleep  sent  Felix,  who  had  been  Pope 
in  his  lifetime,  to  warn  her.  Soon  after  she  died.  Thereafter  she 
appeared  to  Emiliana  calling  her  to  heaven.  When  both  her  sisters 
were  dead,  Gordiana  stood  in  awe  of  no  one  and  took  a  husband,  thus 
breaking  her  covenant  with  God. 

This  story  probably  came  directly  to  our  author  from  the  works  of 
Gregory  the  Great,  where  it  is  told  in  the  same  form.  Ho77iilia^  lib. 
II.,  38  (Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Lat.,  LXXVL,  col.  1290).  The  story 
of  Tarsilla' s  death  is  also  found  in  the  Dialogues,  lib.  IV.,  cap.  XVI. 
(Migne,  LXXVIL,  col.  348).  The  Felix  mentioned  is  Felix  III. 
(see  note  to  the  above,  col.  348). 

The  author  of  the  Speculum  Morale  relates  the  story  but  is  not  the 
source  of  our  version,  because  he  expressly  states  that  Gordiana  married 
her  steward  (custos  agrorum  suorum).  Spec.  Mor.,  lib.  III.,  dist. 
XXXVI.,  pars  X. 

(48)  The  Despised  but  Holy  Nun  : 

St.  Basil  tells  us  of  a  nunnery  where  dwelt  a  woman  who  was  en- 
tirely given  up  to  God  but  who  was  considered  evil  by  her  companions 
because  of  her  heavy  countenance.  They  scorned  her,  called  her 
**  oule  &  vgly  thyng,"  and  made  her  do  all  the  menial  tasks  of  the  con- 
vent. A  holy  hermit  lived  near  by  to  whom  God  said  that  a  woman 
lived  in  the  nunnery  far  holier  than  he,  and  bade  him  go  there  in  the 
morning.  Thither  he  went  and  was  well  received  by  the  nuns.  He 
asked  that  all  the  nuns  be  called  together,  and  when  they  were  gathered 
he  said  that  he  missed  the  one  on  whose  account  he  had  come.  They 
said  that  none  lacked  except  a  woeful  wight  who  was  unworthy  to  be 
seen.  He  asked,  nevertheless,  that  she  be  brought,  and  when  she  had 
come  he  fell  to  his  knees  before  her.     She  in  turn  bowed  before  him. 


OO  G.    H.    GEROULD 

The  nuns  reproved  him  for  kneeling  to  such  a  foul  thing.  But  he  told 
them  of  his  i^essage  from  God,  so  that  they  all  fell  down  and  asked  the 
woman's  forgiveness.  She  prayed  God  to  forgive  them  but  soon  fled 
away  by  night  from  the  place  and  was  never  heard  of  more.  We  be- 
lieve that  God  took  her  into  paradise. 

Though  this  legend  is  referred  to  St.  Basil  by  our  author,  it  really 
comes  from  Heraclides  Paradisus,  cap.  XXI.  (Migne,  Pair.  Curs.  Lat., 
LXXIV.,  col.  299).  The  hermit  Piterius  was  sitting  in  Porphyrite 
when  an  angel  appeared  and  told  him  to  go  to  the  convent  of  Taben- 
nensiotae,  where  lived  the  holy  sister.  It  is  also  found  in  Palladius, 
cap.  XLI.  (see  Migne,  LXXIV.,  par.  938)  ;  in  the  Alph.  Narr.,  of 
Etienne  de  Besangon,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  15913;  and  m  Jacob's 
Well,  chap.  XII.  (ed.  Brandeis,  p.  81).  The  latter  two  versions 
refer  to  Heraclides.  All  of  them  give  the  name  of  the  hermit,  which 
leaves  the  immediate  source  of  our  version  conjectural  though  Etienne 
seems  the  most  probable  authority  (see  nos.  33  and  45). 

(49)  The  Backbiting  Monk  : 

There  was  a  monk  prone  to  backbiting.  Though  he  bore  monk's 
garb  he  was  never  monk  in  deed.  At  length  he  died.  Afterwards 
another  monk  was  praying  one  night  in  the  cloisters  for  the  quick  and 
the  dead.  As  he  went  about  he  saw  a  grinning  monk  sitting  there 
who  cut  his  tongue  into  morsels  and  ate  it.  This  he  did  many  times, 
and  when  he  put  out  his  tongue  it  glowed  like  hot  iron.  The  monk 
who  saw  this  hideous  sight  was  frightened  but  yet  conjured  the  other 
to  tell  him  what  he  was.  The  woeful  wight  answered  weeping  and 
told  his  name.  He  said  that  he  suffered  this  pain  because  he  was  wont 
to  speak  ill  of  his  fellows  behind  their  backs,  and  that  he  must  ever  re- 
main in  hell.     When  he  had  so  spoken  he  disappeared. 

The  legend  of  the  back-biting  monk  has  two  forms,  that  of  the  Met. 
Horn,  where  he  was  punished  after  death,  and  another  where  his  tor- 
ment began  before  he  died.  The  second  form  seems  to  be  the  earlier, 
which  a  love  for  the  marvellous  changed  into  the  more  sensational 
version.  According  to  Thomas  Cantipratanus,  who  was  suffragan 
bishop  of  Cambrai  in  the  second  half  of  the  13th  century,  we  are  to 
believe  that  the  story  originated  with  him.  He  says  {Bonum  Univ. 
de  Apibus,  ed.  1627,  p.  389):  **Huius  rei  vindictam  horribilem 
valde  &  mirabilem  vidi.  Novi  ordine,  non  re ;  nomine,  non  actibus 
sacerdotem,  etc. ' '  He  proceeds  with  the  version  where  the  monk  was 
tortured  before  death.     The  same   is  given  in  Spec.  Mor.,  lib.  III., 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  9 1 

dist.  I.,  pars  IV.,  and  by  John  Herolt,  Prompt.   Exemp.,  D,  ex.   XI. 
In  the  former  the  event  is  said  to  have  happened  in  England. 

The  mystical  version  of  the  Met.  Horn,  is  found  also  in  William  of 
Wadington,  Le  Manuel  des  Pechiez,  and  Robert  of  Brunne's  Hand- 
lyng  Synne  (ed.  Furnivall,  p.  113).  William  says  that  the  event 
happened  in  England  and  that  he  knows  the  place,  though  he  won't 
tell  what  it  is.  Robert  translated  this  statement.  Though  there  are 
differences  of  detail  between  this  version  and  ours  and  though  that  of 
the  treatise  is  longer,  it  seems  probable  that  this  is  the  source  whence 
the  author  of  the  Met.  Horn,  took  the  legend.  The  Latin  version 
of  John  Bromyard,  Summa  PrcBdicantium,  D,  VI.,  29,  has  this  form, 
but  it  was  not  written  till  the  second  half  of  the  14th  century. 

(50)  The  Story  of  Esther  :   Biblical. 

(51)  The  Widow's  Candle: 

A  widow  so  loved  Our  Lady  that  she  had  made  a  chapel  where'' 
she  heard  a  mass  each  day.  Once  while  her  priest  was  gone  Candle- 
mas came  round.  She  was  sad  because  she  could  have  no  mass  and 
made  her  prayer  alone  in  the  chapel.  There  she  fell  asleep  before 
the  altar  and  dreamed  that  she  was  brought  into  a  church  whither 
came  a  great  company  of  maidens  with  a  lady.  They  sat  down  and 
were  followed  by  men  young  and  old.  A  clerk  brought  candles  and 
gave  them  to  all,  even  to  her.  Then  entered  two  clerks  bearing  tapers 
and  after  them  subdeacons  and  deacons  followed  by  Christ  in  the  robes 
of  a  mass-priest.  A  Confiteor  was  said,  and  afterward  the  mass. 
When  the  offertory  came  the  lady  offered  her  taper,  and  after  her  the 
others.  But  the  widow  would  not  give  hers  up.  Then  Our  Lady  sent 
word  that  she  did  wrong  to  keep  the  priest  so  long  before  the  altar. 
She  answered  that  she  would  never  give  up  what  God  had  sent  her. 
The  Lady  commanded  the  messenger  to  take  it  by  force.  Yet  the 
widow  held  fast,  so  that  the  candle  broke  between  them,  and  she 
started  out  of  sleep  having  the  candle  tightly  elapsed  in  both  hands. 
She  thanked  God  and  treasured  the  candle  till  her  death  when  it  was 
given  to  an  abbey,  where  it  works  miracles. 

Jacobus  a  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  XXXVII.  (ed.  Graesse, 
p.  165)  has  this  story  with  one  or  two  differences.  He  gives  as  an 
alternative  reason  why  the  lady  did  not  hear  mass,  that  she  had  given 
all  her  clothes  to  the  poor  and  could  not  go  to  church.  There  is  a 
distinction  between  her  church  and  her  private  chapel.  x\lso  the 
saints  Vincent  and  Lawrence  are  named  as  attending  Christ  in  the 


92  G.    H.    GEROULD 

dream.     This  version  is  also  found  in  MS.   Brit.  Mus.  Arund.  506, 
fol.  52,  and  MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Harl.  2316,  fol.  18. 

More  like  the  Met.  Horn,  tale  and  its  probable  original  (or  a  form 
parallel  with  that  original)  is  the  version  of  Jean  Mielot  in  his  Miracles 
de  Nostre-Dame^  no.  6  (ed.  Warner,  p.  9). 

(52)  The  Prioress  who  was  Miraculously  Delivered  : 
As  the  prioress  of  a  nunnery  was  going  about  the  needs  of  her  abbey 
one  day,  she  found  before  the  gate  a  little  female  child.  She  took 
pity  on  the  foundling  and  reared  her.  At  length  she  made  her  a  nun 
and  loved  her  heartily.  Indeed,  she  loved  all  her  spiritual  daughters 
and  kept  them  from  folly.  For  this  she  was  loved  by  the  good  nuns 
but  hated  by  the  fools.  The  fiend  had  envy  of  her  for  her  goodness 
and  tempted  her  to  lust,  so  that  at  last  she  fell  into  sin  with  her  steward 
and  conceived  of  him.  She  confided  her  trouble  in  the  foundling 
whom  she  had  reared,  enjoining  her  to  secrecy.  This  the  nun  prom- 
ised, and  proposed  to  the  lady  that  when  the  child  was  born  she  should 
do  away  with  it  and  bury  it  in  the  garden.  So  it  was  agreed.  But 
the  nun  was  false  and  betrayed  the  abbess  to  the  bishop,  who  was  made 
sad,  because  he  had  thought  the  prioress  a  good  woman.  The  nuns, 
too,  heard  of  her  deed,  and  some  were  sorry  but  others  were  glad  and 
sent  letters  to  the  bishop.  He  appointed  a  day  to  hear  the  case. 
When  the  day  came  the  abbess  was  great  with  child  and  near  delivery. 
That  night  she  remained  waking  and  praying  in  her  chapel,  with  tears 
beseeching  Our  Lady  to  help  her.  Finally  for  weariness  she  fell 
asleep  before  the  altar.  Then  came  Our  Lady  and  reproved  her  for 
her  folly,  but  delivered  her  of  a  male  child  while  she  slept.  Mary 
placed  the  infant  in  an  angel's  arm  and  bade  him  bear  it  to  a  hermit 
who  lived  more  than  seven  miles  away,  and  to  tell  the  hermit  that  he 
should  baptize  and  rear  it.  Then  Mary  disappeared ;  and  the 
prioress  woke  and  remained  in  prayer  all  the  night.  In  the  morning 
came  the  bishop  and  his  clergy  to  give  judgment.  The  bishop  sent 
women  to  examine  the  prioress  who  were  sworn  to  tell  the  truth. 
They  found  her  a  virgin.  Then  the  bishop  was  angry  with  the  nun 
who  had  given  information  and  bade  that  she  be  burned.  To  save  her 
the  prioress  told  the  bishop  secretly  all  the  truth.  He  sent  to  the  her- 
mit and  found  the  child.  When  the  boy  was  seven  years  old  the 
bishop  made  him  a  good  scholar,  and  he  became  the  bishop's  successor. 

This  conie  devot  is  very  well  known,  but  appears  nowhere  else,  so 
far  as  I  know,  in  the  same  form.     The  incident  of  the  foundling  nun 


NORTH -ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  9^ 

is  either  an  invention  of  our  author  or  something  which  he  found  in  his 
immediate  original,  whether  written  or  oral.  Not  one  of  the  twenty 
other  examples  contain  it.  The  ordinary  course  of  the  tale  is  this : 
An  abbess,  tempted  by  the  devil,  sins  with  a  youth  connected  with  her 
convent.  The  nuns  who  hate  her  write  to  the  bishop.  On  the  night 
before  an  intended  examination  she  is  miraculously  delivered  and  the 
child  sent  to  a  hermit.  The  examination  is  triumphantly  concluded 
and  the  wicked  nuns  forgiven  after  the  abbess'  secret  confession. 

The  trait  which  varies  most  uniformly  in  all  the  representatives  is 
the  form  of  examination  to  which  the  abbess  was  Subjected.  Though 
only  a  minor  point  it  furnishes  a  clue  to  the  proper  arrangement  of  the 
stories.  The  examiners  were  either :  (A)  two  clerks  (usually  suc- 
ceeded by  the  bishop  himself)  ;  or  (B)  women  whom  the  bishop  had 
brought  with  him  ;  or  (C)  form  not  specified. 

A.   In  this  group  the  bishop's  name  is  usually  given  as  Antistes. 
It  includes  eleven  representatives  : 
Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.,  lib.  VII.,  cap.  86.      (Probably  the 

earliest  version  here  mentioned. ) 
Etienne  de  Besangon,  Alph.  Narr.,  A,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  159 13,  fol. 

3(b),  referred  to  Mariale  Magnum.^ 
Exempla  de  Beata  Virgine,  no.  39  (mentioned  by  Mussafia,  I.,  p.  30 

as  no.  4S'),  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  18134,  fol.  148(a). 
Exempla,  no.     2,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.     5267,  fol.  3(b). 
-     55,     -        -        -       -     14463,  fol.  39(a). 
I,     ''       ''       ''      ''     17491,  fol.  42(b>. 
"       ''       "       "       2333A,  fol.  34(b). 
Liber  de  Miraculis,  Potho  (ed.  B.  Pez.,  no.  36). 
Latin  Stories,  ed.  Wright,  no.  38,  p.  38   (from  MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Harl. 

2316,  fol.  6). 
Jean  Mielot,  Miracles  de  Nostre-Dame,  no.  50  (ed.    Warner,  p.  44) 

(bishop  not  named). 
Provencal  version,  translation  of  ordinary  Latin  type,  ed,  J.  Ulrich  in 

Rom.,  VIII. ,  p.  20  ff.  as  no.  8  in  his  collection  of  exempla  from 

MS.  Addit.  17920  in  Brit.  Mus. 
Also  a  miracle-play  of  early    15th  century  (according  to  P.  Paris) 
contained  in  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  fran.  819,  fol.  14(a),  appears  to  belong 
to  this  group. 

^  For  a  discussion  of  this  work,  now  lost,  and  its  attribution  to  Alexander  de  Hales, 
see  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  XVIIL,  p.  321  (art.  by  Petit-Radel). 


94 


G.     H.    GEROULD 


B.  Most  of  the  representatives  of  this  group  are  in  French,  but  the 
Met.  Honi.  version  belongs  to  it.  The  number  of  women  varies  con- 
siderably, though  five  is  the  favorite  number.  The  group  has  seven 
members  which  I  have  examined  : 

Miracula    Virginis,  MS.  Harl.  2316,  fol.  7(b),  (the  only  Latin  ver- 
sion). 
Gautier  de   Coincy  (from  MS.  Harl.  4401,  fol.  45(b)),  ed.  Ulrich, 
Zeitschrift  f.  r.  Phil.y  VI.,  p.  334  (not  printed  by  I'Abbe  Po- 
quet). 
Meon,  Nouveau  Recueil,  II.,  p.  314. 

Mielot,   Miracles    de    Nostre-Daine,   no.     70   (ed.    Warner,   p.    73). 

(The  three  above  are  similar  metrical  versions,  but  independent.) 

Le  Grand  d'Aussy,  Fabliaux  ou    Contes,  V.,  p.    63    (an   analysis   of 

some  French  version,  but  not  of  one  here  mentioned). 
Miracles  de  la    Vierge,  no.  31,  MS.  Bibl.   Nat.   fran.  410,  fol.  22(b). 
Met.  Hovi. 

The  version  from  MS.  fran.  410,  though  in  15th  century  prose  and 
therefore  far  later  not  only  than  our  version'  but  also  than  any  other 
here  mentioned,  has  curiously  enough  a  suggestion  ef  the  foundling- 
nun  story.  That  is,  it  states  that  the  abbess  was  tempted  to  destroy 
her  child,  though  by  whom  tempted  it  does  not  say. 

C.  The  five  representatives  which  do  not  specify  the  form  of  exami- 
nation are  simply,  I  think,  shortened  forms  of  A : 

Etienne  de  Bourbon,  Anecdotes  Hist.   (ed.  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  p. 

114). 
Miracula,  no.  33,  MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.     5562,  fol.    30(a). 
''    78,     ''        ''        ''       '^    12593,  fol.  193(b). 
Johannes  Junior,  Scala  Cell,  fol.  loi(a). 
Herolt,  De  Miraculis,  B.   V.,  ex.  25. 

Scala  Cell  refers  again  to  the  Mariale  Magnum,  and  proves  the 
connection  with  group  A. 

To  type  A  belongs  also  a  story  from  MS.  Balliol  240,  no.  12  (re- 
ferred to  by  Mussafia,  III.,  p.  29).  It  is,  however,  remarkable,  as  be- 
ing the  only  other  version  beside  Met.  Horn,  which  states  that  the 
abbess  confided  in  a  nun,  here  '*  little  by  little."  The  nun  tells  the 
archdeacon,  the  archdeacon  the  bishop.  No  mention  is  made  as  in 
the  version  of  MS.  fran.  410  and  Met.  Horn,  of  a  plan  to  destroy  the 
child.  The  existence  of  the  nun  in  the  original  tale  seems  probable 
since  she  is  found  in  both  A  and  B.  As  will  be  seen  our  English 
version  is,  then,  the  most  complete  of  any  here  treated. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  95 

(53)   Saint  Alexis : 

In  Rome  was  once  a  rich  man  named  Eufemian  whose  wife  was 
named  Aglase.  He  was  a  senator  and  very  rich.  He  had  three 
thousand  servants  whom  he  clothed  and  fed  daintily,  and  he  was  so 
charitable  that  he  had  always  ready  in  his  hall  three  boards,  one  for 
pilgrims,  another  for  the  poor,  and  a  third  for  orphans.  So  they  lived 
in  wealth  and  holiness,  and  wanted  nothing  on  earth  but  one.  They 
had  no  child.  At  last  God  heard  their  repeated  prayers  and  sent 
them  a  son.  They  gave  thanks  and  christened  the  boy  Alexis  which 
means  in  our  tongue,  ' '  Manne  fullfilled  of  gode  thewes. ' '  The  child 
grew  and  became  both  learned  and  holy.  When  he  had  arrived  at 
man's  estate  his  father  arranged  that  he  marry  a  fair  maiden  of  the 
emperor's  kin,  and  brought  her  to  his  house.  There  was  a  great 
bridal  with  mirth  and  feasting  and  rich  gifts.  The  poor  were  not  for- 
gotten, moreover.  At  length  the  bridal  couple  were  put  to  bed. 
When  all  were  gone  out  of  the  chamber  Alexis  preached  to  his  bride 
of  the  blessedness  of  virginity,  gave  her  jewels  and  also  his  gold  ring, 
to  be  a  token  between  them.  He  told  her  that  he  must  go  thence, 
into  what  land  he  could  not  tell.  She  replied  meekly.  He  took 
silver  and  gold  and  rich  clothing,  and  departed.  Soon  he  found  a 
ship  and  crossed  the  sea.  He  entered  a  city,  changed  his  rich  clothing 
for  that  of  a  beggar  and  fled  fast  away.  For  seven  winters  he  lived  as 
a  beggar,  clad  in  hair  and  eating  only  bread  and  water.  When  Eu- 
femian missed  his  son  he  wept,  as  also  did  the  mother.  They  sent 
messengers  into  every  land  to  seek  Alexis.  Two  of  these  messengers 
came  where  he  was  sitting  as  a  beggar  in  the  street.  They  did  not 
know  him,  he  was  so  changed  by  penance  and  hunger,  and  they  gave 
him  alms  as  well  as  to  the  other  poor  men  that  they  might  pray  for  the 
discovery  of  Alexis.  Alexis  thanked  God  that  he  had  received  alms  of 
his  own  servants.  The  messengers  went  home  and  made  the  father 
sorrow,  the  mother  weep  and  tear  her  hair  and  lament  in  sackcloth. 
The  young  wife  wept  and  declared  that  she  would  remain  faithful  to 
her  lost  husband.  The  city  was  called  Edissa  where  Alexis  lived  in 
poverty.  One  day  as  he  prayed  before  an  image  of  Our  Lady  she 
came  to  him  and  commended  his  prayers.  Another  time  she  appeared 
to  a  sacristan  in  the  church  and  bade  him  take  in  the  poor  man  of 
God.  The  sacristan  found  many  poor  men  and  so  prayed  Our  Lady 
to  tell  him  what  man  she  meant.  The  image  answered  him  that  he 
would  find  God's  servant  sitting  among  the  poor  men.  So  he  found 
Alexis  who  Avas  sad  that  his  goodness   had  been  discovered.      The 


g6  G.    H.    GEROULD 

people  heard  of  the  miracle,  and  made  Alexis  sit  in  a  fair  seat,  and 
spoke  to  him  with  fair  words.  He  prayed  to  God  in  humility  and  on 
a  dark  night  escaping  from  the  city  came  to  the  town  of  Laodise. 
Thence  he  shipped  for  Tarsus  where  he  wished  to  dwell  in  St.  Paul's 
church.  But  God  turned  the  winds  and  sent  the  ship  to  Rome. 
Alexis  met  his  father  coming  from  the  church  and  prayed  him,  if  he 
loved  anyone  gone  on  a  pilgrimage,  that  he  would  give  him  help.  Eu- 
femian  was  reminded  of  his  son  and  so  took  the  poor  man  into  his 
house,  and  gave  him  a  chamber  where  he  could  go  and  come  as  he 
pleased,  and  commanded  his  servants  to  obey  him.  Thus  Alexis  lived 
for  seventeen  winters  in  the  strictest  penance,  and  he  suffered  patiently 
the  insults  of  the  wanton  boys  of  the  house  who  tried  to  frighten  him 
at  night,  pulled  his  beard,  and  cast  upon  him  the  dish-washings.  At 
length  God  sent  tidings  to  him  that  he  should  die.  Alexis  thanked 
God  and  asked  for  ink  and  parchment  with  which  he  wrote  his  life 
and  how  he  had  lived  in  beggary  for  thirty-four  years.  This  writing 
he  clasped  in  his  hand  and  soon  died.  It  was  Palm  Sunday,  and  the 
people  were  gathered  in  church  when  they  heard  a  voice  saying : 
**  Comes  all  to  me  ]>t  suffirs  pyne."  The  people  fell  on  their  knees 
and  sang  the  Kyrie  Eleison  and  again  the  voice  spoke,  bidding  them 
seek  God's  servant,  who  lay  sick  in  the  city.  At  that  moment 
Alexis  died.  The  people  sought  but  did  not  find  the  man  indicated 
by  the  voice.  On  Good  Friday  the  Pope  and  his  clergy  went  early 
to  the  church  as  did  the  two  emperors  and  many  lay  folk.  They  all 
thought  upon  the  voice,  and  the  Pope  bade  them  pray  that  they 
might  find  who  was  meant.  So  they  did  and  at  length  heard  a  voice 
say  that  they  should  find  in  Eufemian's  house  the  body  of  Alexis. 
At  this  all  were  glad,  for  there  had  been  great  woe  at  his  loss.  The 
Pope  and  clergy  asked  Eufemian  who  knew  of  no  such  man.  So  in 
procession  they  sought  the  holy  body,  as  the  book  tells.  Eufemian 
inquired  of  his  servants  if  they  knew  such  a  man,  but  to  no  purpose 
till  the  boy  who  served  Alexis  came  running  to  say  that  his  master  had 
died  that  morning  and  that  he  had  done  great  penance.  Eufemian 
ran  to  him,  called,  found  him  lying  in  rags  but  marvellously  sweet  in 
odor.  His  bed  was  all  of  little  stones  and  he  was  clad  in  hair.  Eu- 
femian told  the  Pope  what  he  had  found.  The  Pope  addressed  the 
body  and  took  the  parchment  from  its  hand.  He  bade  a  clerk  read  it 
aloud.  When  this  was  done  Eufemian  began  to  weep  and  fell  upon 
the  dead  body  in  sorrow.  When  Aglase  heard  the  news  she  began  to 
''roupe  and  rare,"   and   to   lament.      The    Pope   dressed  the  body 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION 


97 


richly  and  commanded  that  it  be  borne  to  the  church.  But  so  great 
was  the  crowd  of  sick  and  halt  that  they  could  not  make  way.  The 
wise  men  of  Rome  thought  of  wiles  and  strewed  pennies  in  the  street, 
but  scarcely  could  they  even  then  bring  the  corpse  to  the  church  of 
St.  Boniface.  There  was  built  a  rich  shrine  for  Alexis,  and  all  sick 
men  are  healed  who  approach  it. 

The  versions  of  the  Alexis  legend  in  various  languages  differ  only  in 
details  ;  but  an  exhaustive  comparison  of  them  would  require  a  separate 
and  prolonged  study,  owing  to  the  long  and  complicated  nature  of  the 
narrative.  The  best  accounts  of  the  history  of  the  legend  are  to  be 
found  in  Massmann,  Sanct  Alexius  Leden,  1843;  ^-  Kotting,  Studien 
uber  altfranzbsische  Bearbeitungen  der  Alexiuslegende,  1890  ;  Amiaud, 
La  legende  syriaque  de  Saint  Alexis,  1885;  P.  Miiller,  Studien  uber 
drei  dramatise  he  Bearbeitungen  der  Alexius  legende,  1888. 

The  legend  was  exceedingly  popular  both  in  France  and  England. 
The  original  French  metrical  version  of  the  nth  century  was  after- 
wards changed  and  expanded.  It  has  been  repeatedly  printed  in  one 
form  or  another.  It  originated,  according  to  M.  Gaston  Paris,  in 
Normandy.  A  critical  text  of  the  various  forms  has  been  published 
by  MM.  Paris  and  Pannier,  Vie  de  Saint  Alexis,  1887.  See  also 
Eine  altfranzosiche  Alexius  Legende  aus  deni  ij  Jahrhundert,  ed.  J. 
Herz ;  Altfranzosisches  Ubungsbuch,  ed.  Foerster  and  Koschwitz,  I., 
p.  102  ;  Gaston  Paris  in  Roma?iia,  VIII.,  p.  163;  Stengel,  La  Can- 
gun  de  Saint  Alexis. 

English  Versions  : 

There  are  six  metrical  versions  in  English,  all  of  which  have  been 
printed  including  that  from  the  Met.  Horn. 


I.  MSS. 


Horstmann,  Herrig^ s  Are/iiv,  LI.,  p.  loi. 
Laud  108,  ed.  -j  Fumivall,  Adam  Daviess  Five  Dreams, 
I       etc.,  1878. 


Vernon,  ed. 


Horstmann,   Herrig's  Archiv,   LVL,   p. 

391- 
.  Furnivall,  as  above. 


Naples,  XIII.  B.  29. 
^  Durham,  V.  II.  14. 


1  See  Schipper,  Die  zweite  Version,  p.  232. 


98 


G.    H.    GEROULD 


(MSS.  Laud,  Vernon  and  Naples,  ed.  in  crit.   edition,  Schipper, 
Alexius-legenden,  I.,  1877.) 


II.  MSS.  \ 


Laud  463. 

Trin.  Coll. 
Oxford  57.    j 


Horstmann,  Herrig's^r^/^/V,  LVL, 

p.  401. 
Furnivall,  as  above. 
-  ed.  \  Schipper,   Die  zweite    Version   der 
mittele  ngl.     A  lexius  -  legen  den, 
1887    (a   crit.    ed.    of   the    two 
L      MSS.). 


III.    MS.   Laud  622,   ed. 


Furnivall,  as  above. 

Horstmann,  Herrig's^;'<r/^/^/,  LIX.,p.  79. 


IV.  Barbour's   Legend    Collectioii,   ed.    Horstmann,    p.    210;    Met- 

calfe, I.,  p.  441. 

r  Furnivall,  as  above. 

V.  MS.  Cott.  Titus,  A.  XXVI.,  ed.     j  Horstmann,  Ueing's  Are/iiv, 

[      LIX.,  p.  96. 

VI.  Me^.  Horn.,  ed.   from  MSS.  Ash.   42  and  Camb.  Gg,  V.  31,  by 

Horstmann,  Altengl.  Leg.,  Neue  Folge,  p.  174. 

The  Barbour  version  follows  the  Legenda  Aurea,  cap.  XCIV.  (ed. 
Graesse,  p.  403)  very  closely ;  and  the  author  of  III.  used  the  Latin 
life  printed  in  Acta  Sanct.,  Jul.  IV.,  p.  238  ff.,  according  to  Kotting. 
Whether  our  version  came  from  one  of  the  redactions  of  the  French 
metrical  version  or  from  a  prose  vita  in  Latin  I  am  unable  at  present 
to  decide. 

(54)  Simon  Magus: 

In  the  time  of  Peter  there  began  to  preach  in  Rome  a  false  man 
called  Simon  Magus.  He  said  that  he  was  the  son  of  God,  and  by 
witchcraft  he  restored  men  to  life.  Peter  preached  against  him  and 
made  Simon  angry.  Then  a  man  died  and  was  brought  into  a  public 
place  that  Peter  and  Simon  might  try  their  power  in  raising  him  to 
life.  Whoever  failed  was  to  be  slain.  First  Simon  made  his  spell  of 
witchcraft,  and  the  head  of  the  dead  man  stirred.  Then  the  people 
would  have  slain  Peter,  but  he  bade  them  make  Simon  go  away  and 
they  would  see  that  the  man  was  still  dead.     So  it  proved.     Then  Peter 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION     '  99 

commanded  him  in  the  name  of  Christ  to  rise  and  tell  what  he  knew 
of  Simon.  The  man  rose  and.  told  them  that  Simon  was  in  the  service 
of  Satan.  Then  the  people  would  have  slain  Simon  had  not  Peter 
prevented  them.  Yet  Simon  did  not  cease  to  plot  against  Peter.  He 
tied  up  a  savage  dog  to  see  if  Peter  dared  unloose  it.  Unsuccessful  in 
this  he  fled  from  Rome  for  a  twelvemonth.  On  his  return  he  went  to 
Nero  and  said  that  he  had  suffered  both  from  Peter  and  Paul.  He 
showed  his  power  by  changing  into  many  forms,  and  asked  the  em- 
peror to  smite  off  his  head  that  he  might  rise  the  third  day  and  prove 
his  godhead.  To  this  Nero  agreed  and  commanded  his  executioner  so 
to  do.  Simon  took  a  sheep's  head  and  by  enchantment  made  it  like 
his  own.  He  bribed  the  executioner  to  strike  off  the  head  in  the 
dark,  and  so  on  the  third  day  he  appeared  to  Nero.  Nero  believed  in 
him,  but  Peter  and  Paul  said  he  was  Satan.  Then  Simon  accused  them 
to  the  Emperor  falsely  as  traitors.  Brought  before  Nero  Peter  proved 
that  Simon  was  full  of  treason  and  demanded  that  if  he  were  God  he 
should  tell  what  Peter  was  thinking.  The  emperor  said  that  this  was 
reasonable.  So  Peter  in  private  asked  the  emperor  for  a  barley  loaf 
and  this  he  blessed.  Then  he  asked  Simon  what  he  had  said  and 
done.  Simon  at  this  was  woeful  and  called  for  his  angels  to  slay 
Peter.  There  came  forth  black  dogs,  but  they  fled  from  the  hallowed 
bread.  Peter  taunted  him  that  his  angels  were  of  dog  nature.  Simon 
was  angry  and  said  that  he  would  show  his  power  of  flying.  So  Nero 
caused  to  be  made  a  high  wooden  tower  from  which  by  fiendish  art 
Simon  flew  into  the  air.  Again  Nero  believed  him,  but  Peter  com- 
manded the  fiends  that  bare  him  to  let  him  fall.  So  Simon  perished 
and  his  soul  went  to  hell  in  thunder.  But  Nero  in  wrath  commanded 
that  Paul  be  beheaded  and  Peter  crucified.  This  was  done,  Peter's 
cross  at  his  own  request  being  turned  upside  down. 

This  curious  legend  of  Simon  and  the  apostles,  which  reads  like  an 
account  of  a  juggling  contest,  belongs  to  the  earliest  cycle  of  ecclesias- 
tical legends.  For  the  development  of  the  tale  in  the  apocryphal  his- 
tory of  the  apostles,  see  Lipsius,  Die  apocryphen  Apostelgeschichten 
und  Apostellegenden,  1883-90,  L,  126  ff.;  H.,  28  ff".,  284  fl".,  etc., 
where  the  early  versions  are  treated  at  great  length.  M.  Foerster, 
Ober  die  Que  lien  von  yElfrics  HomilicB  Catholic  ce,  i  legenden,  1892, 
p.  18  ff.,  makes  a  useful  division  of  the  Latin  versions,  (i)  The  re- 
suscitation of  the  man  and  the  subjugation  of  the  savage  dog  is  repre- 
sented by  a  letter  of  pseudo-Marcellus  to  the  brothers  Nereus  and 


lOO  G.    H.    GEROULD 

Achilles  found  in  Acta  Sanct.,  Mai  12,  III.,  9.  (2)  The  other 
events  are  included  in  what  is  usually  called  Passio  Petri  et  Paiiliy 
printed  in  Anonymi  Philalethi  Eusebianiin  vitas  miracula passionesgue 
apostolorum  rhapsodicE,  Koln,  1531  (see  Lipsius,  11. ,  284). 

These  versions  must  have  been  welded  by  the  loth  cent.,  since  they 
are  found  in  the  combined  form  in  ^Elfric,  Homilicd  Catholicce,  ed., 
Thorpe  I.,  370.  Though  it  is  possible  that  he  joined  the  two  versions, 
it  appears  more  probable  that  he  simply  translated  a  Latin  version 
which  had  previously  welded  the  two.  The  earlier  versions  in  Eng- 
lish of  Wulfstan,  ed.  Napier,  p.  98,  and  of  the  Blickli^ig  Homilies^ 
ed.  Morris,  p.  171,  are  simply  free  renderings  of  the  Passio  men- 
tioned above.  ^ 

It  is  probable  that  our  version  was  taken  from  the  Legenda  Aurea, 
cap.  LXXXIX.  (ed.  Graesse,  p.  371),  with  which  it  agrees  in  all 
essentials.  I  can  find  no  evidence  that  the  compiler  knew  ^Ifric, 
and  he  certainly  knew  Jacques  de  Voragine. 

Simon's  melodramatic  end  is  similar  to  that  of  an  evil-doer,  of 
whom  it  is  related  in  the  life  of  St.  Patrick  by  Jocelyn  (end  of  the 
12th  cent.),  and  in  that  attributed  toBede,  that  he  was  raised  from  the 
ground  by  devils,  but  was  dashed  down  and  killed  by  the  prayer  of  the 
saint.  See  San  Marte,  Die  Sagen  von  Merlin,  p.  51.  This  is,  of 
course,  a  case  of  '*  grafting." 

(55)   The  Wise  Son: 

A  certain  knight  had  two  sons.  One  of  them  was  fond  of  hunting 
and  followed  his  father  to  the  war.  The  other  loved  learning  and  was 
very  holy.  During  the  knight's  absence  the  latter  entered  a  monas- 
tery and  became  a  monk.  His  father  in  great  anger  led  a  force  against 
the  abbey  and  swore  to  destroy  it  unless  his  son  were  given  up.  In 
alarm  the  abbot  besought  the  monk  to  go  out  and  appease  his  father. 
So  the  young  man  went  forth  and  promised  to  leave  the  monastery  if 
one  custom  of  the  land  were  changed.  The  knight  asked  what  this 
was.  The  young  man  said  he  meant  the  custom  that  both  young  and 
old  should  die.  The  father  was  so  moved  by  this  that  he  left  the 
world  and  became  a  monk. 

By  Etienne  de  Bourbon,  Anecdotes  Hist.  (ed.  Lecoy  de  la  Marche, 
p.  58)  this  story  is  told  of  a  lord  of  Vignori,  who  had  a  son,  a  soldier, 
who  heard  the  soldiers  of  God  singing  as  he  passed  Clairvaux.     The 

^  Foerster,  p.  18,  note. 


NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY    COLLECTION  lOI 

editor  says  concerning  Vignori    in  a  note,    *'Sans  doute,    Vignory 
(Haute-Marne)." 

Other  versions  are : 
MS.  Bibl.  Nat.  lat.  18134,  fol.  206(a),  as  no.  80  oi  Exempla  ascribed 

to  Jacques  de  Vitry. 
MS.   Bibl.   Nat.  lat.  15913,   fol.  25(a),  Alph.  Narr.  of  Etienne  de 

Besangon. 
MS.   Brit.   Mus.  Add.    26770,   fol.   78(b),  as  no.   34  of  a  collection 

ascribed  to  Jacques  de  Vitry. 
Early  English  Versions  of  Gesta  Rom.,  ed.  Herrtage,  p.  364. 

Our  version  was  doubtless  taken  from  the  Alph.  Narr.  or  from  the 
pseudo-Jacques  de  Vitry. 


I02  G.    H.    GEROULD 


SUMMARY   OF   SOURCES  USED  BY  THE  COMPILER 
OF   THE    COLLECTION. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  this  study  of  the  sources  of  the  North- 
EngHsh  homilies  has  led  to  less  definite  positive  results  than  was  hoped. 
Little  light  has  been  thrown  on  the  method  of  compilation  of  the  col- 
lection as  a  whole,  and  less  on  the  authorship.  The  negative  results 
are  somewhat  greater  and,  by  paradox,  lead  to  certain  conclusions 
which  are  scarcely  disputable.  The  author  of  the  original  collection, 
with  which  alone  I  have  concerned  myself,  has  been  shown  to  have 
been  no  mere  compiler  or  translator.  The  former  fact  is  proved  by  a 
comparison  of  many  individual  tales  with  their  probable  originals, 
where  the  narrator's  naive  skill  has  heightened  the  effect  of  the  story 
he  was  telling,  or  where  he  has  adapted  a  plot  to  suit  his  purpose  as  in 
the  case  of  no.  38.  That  he  was  not  a  mere  translator  is  pretty  clearly 
shown,  moreover,  by  the  comparatively  large  number  of  works  which 
contain  the  originals  or  close  analogues  of  his  tales. 

In  presenting  the  following  table  of  results  I  make  no  claim  to  abso- 
lute accuracy,  since  dogmatic  statements  in  such  matters  are  at  best 
unsafe ;  but  I  think  that  it  may  be  trusted  to  show  the  originality  of 
the  first  compiler  and  the  range  of  his  knowledge. 

Sources. 
Biblical. 

Some  collection  of  Mary  legends. 
Biblical. 

Some  collection  of  Mary  legends. 
Life  of  St.  Martin. 
Vitce  Patrum. 
Vitce  Patrum. 
None  found. 
Biblical. 
Legenda  Aurea. 
Life  of  St.  Thomas. 
Biblical. 

Dialogus  Miraculorum  by  Caesar  von  Heisterbach. 
Speculum  Morale. 
None  found. 


No. 

I. 

No. 

2. 

No. 

3- 

No. 

4- 

No. 

5- 

No. 

6. 

No. 

7- 

No. 

8. 

No. 

9- 

No. 

10. 

No. 

II. 

No. 

12. 

No. 

13- 

No. 

14. 

No. 

15- 

NORTH-ENGLISH    HOMILY   COLLECTION  I03 

No.  16.  Life  of  St.  Marina. 

No.  17.  Legenda  Aurea. 

No.  18.  Life  of  St.  Eustace. 

No.  19.  Vitce  Patrum. 

No.  20.  Legenda  Aurea. 

No.  21.  Legenda  Aurea. 

No.  22.  Legenda  Aurea. 

No.  23.  FzV^  Patrum. 

No.  24.  Speculum  Morale. 

No.  25.  Life  of  St.  Martin. 

No.  26.  F//^  Patrum. 

No.  27.  Z^/l?  ^6"/.  Edmund. 

No.  28.  Some  collection  of  exempla. 

No.  29.  Some  collection  of  exempla  (or  possibly  Nicole  de  Bozon). 

No.  30.  Biblical. 

No.  31.  Nicole  de  Bozon  (?). 

No.  32.  Summa  Virtutum  ac  Vitiorum  by  Paraldus. 

No.  33.  Alphabetum  Narrationum  by  Etienne  de  Besan^on. 

No.  34.  VitcB  Patru7ft. 

No.  35.  Collection  of  exempla  ascribed  to  Jacques  de  Vitry. 

No.  36.  Biblical. 

No.  37.  VitcB  Patrum. 

No.  38.  A  Yitnoh  fabliau. 

No.  39.  Life  of  St.  Theophilus. 

No.  40.  Collection  of  exempla,  or  Wilham  de  Wadington  (?). 

No.  41.  VitcB  Patru7n,  Speculum  Morale,  or  Paraldus. 

No.  42.  Homilia  of  Gregory  the  Great. 

No.  43.  Life  of  St.  Pelagia. 

No.  44.  Manuel  des  Pechiez  by  Wilham  de  Wadington  (?). 

No.  45.  Legenda  Aurea,  Paraldus,  or  Etienne  de  Besan^on. 

No.  46.  Romance  of  Alexander  (ecclesiastical  version  in  Latin). 

No.  47.  Llomilia  of  Gregory  the  Great. 

No.  48.  Etienne  de  Besan^on. 

No.  49.  Wilham  de  Wadington. 

No.  50.  Biblical. 

No.  51.  Some  collection  of  Mary  legends.  , 

No.  52.  Some  collection  of  Mary  legends. 

No.  53.  Life  of  St.  Alexis. 

No.  54.  Legenda  Aurea. 

No.  5  5 .  Exempla  ascribed  to  Jacques  de  Vitry,  or  Etiennede  Besan^on. 


I04  G.    H.    GEROULD 

For  two  tales  (nos.  8  and  15)  no  originals  or  analogues  have  been 
found.  In  the  case  of  two  others  (nos.  41  and  45)  it  is  impossible  to 
decide  between  a  trio  of  similar  stories  as  to  which  are  the  originals. 
Seven  narratives  were  taken  from  the  Bible,  and  an  equal  number  from 
the  VttcB  Patrum.  Independent  lives  of  individual  saints  supplied  the 
material  for  nine.  Collections  of  Mary  legends  furnished  four  and 
anonymous  collections  of  Latin  exempla  three  or  possibly  five  (see  nos. 
40  and  55).  Six  came  from  Jacobus  a  Voragine's  Legenda  Aurea,  and 
two  or  three  (see  no.  55)  from  Etienne's  Alphabetum  Narrationum. 
Two  came  from  the  Speculum  Morale,  falsely  ascribed  to  Vincent  of 
Beauvais,  a  like  number  from  Gregory's  Homilia,  and  two  or  three 
(see  no.  40)  from  the  French  of  Wilham  de  Wadington.  One  was 
taken  from  each  of  the  following  sources :  Caesar  von  Heisterbach, 
Paraldus,  Nicole  de  Bozon  (?),  a  Yx^noh.  fabliau,  and  the  Alexander 
cycle. 

Altogether,  excluding  the  Bible  and  counting  each  saint's  biography 
by  itself,  twenty-two  different  works  are  represented  in  the  compilation. 
This  is  a  large  number  for  one  man  to  use  at  that  day,  especially  in  the 
compilation  of  a  popular  didactic  work ;  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  writer  was  probably  a  member  of  one  of  the  rich  monastic 
establishments  of  the  North  with  considerable  stores  of  books  at  his 
command.  Moreover,  from  the  changes  made  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the 
author  sometimes  wrote  from  memory  and  perhaps  from  oral  tradition 
rather  than  from  reference  to  books.  Certainly  he  was  neither  very 
learned  nor  a  man  of  great  literary  skill.  The  following  passage  from 
the  prologue  well  illustrates  the  purpose  and  achievement  of  the 
work : 

Forthi  will  I  of  my  pouerte 

Shewe  some  thinge  I  haue  in  hert, 

On  ynglihsse  tonge  J^at  all  maye 

Vnderstand  what  I  will  saye. 

For  lewid  men  base  mare  mistere 

Goddes  worde  for  to  here 

|?an  clerkes  \>\.  jjaire  merour  lokes, 

\>\.  seese  how  l^ai  sail  Hue  in  bokes. 

And  bathe  clerkes  &  lawde  man 

Ynglihs  vndirstand  can 
a  \A.  was  born  in  yngelande 

And  lange  has  bene  )?are  in  wonande  ; 

Bot  all  men  can  no^t  I  wisse 

Vndirstand  latyne  ne  frankisse. 

(From  MS.  Ashraole  42,  fol.  I  b,  vv.  59-72.  ) 


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